


A Light

by cloud2443



Category: Naruto
Genre: AU, F/M, Fantasy World
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-21 07:31:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9537989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloud2443/pseuds/cloud2443
Summary: After a long weekend of medical conferences Sakura is ready to get home but a sudden storm makes things go south and now she finds herself nursing a badly injured stranger back to health while trying to figure out where exactly she is. Will she be able to find a way home?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, I started writing this on my FF.net account but I wanted to rewrite it to fit where I stand now with this story. There is not much dialogue in this chapter, mostly setting up some backstory, but I hope it pipes your interest!   
> It's not been looked over by anyone other than me so excuse any mistakes.

A throbbing leg greeted Sakura as she came to. Her short pink hair shrouded her view of her surroundings, but the feeling of the hard plastic and metal of her car pressing against her body told her that wherever she was, at least she was in her car.

Memory of the storm and the object in the road came flashing back to her. She had seen something white on the road and had swerved to avoid it. It was then she felt herself lose control of the car and there was a lot of turbulence before the impact that knocked her out.

Green eyes fluttered open as they adjusted to the brightness streaming in through the shattered windows. Though once she could see again, she saw her car wrapped around a thick tree.

She carefully raised her head, making sure her neck had not suffered an injury, and luckily other than a bit of soreness there was nothing serious. She was apparently in a glade of trees, no road in sight. That could explain why she woke up alone and not surrounded by the paramedics or or police.

She leaned back, or at least tried, but she was pinned where she was and that was terrifying. Looking over at her cup holders she saw no sign of her phone.

“Fuck.” She cursed, frustration and fear rising up into her chest. She tried to move her arms to try and get her door open but her left arm didn’t want to move and her right was painfully sore. Reaching over herself to the door handle made her groan in pain but her fingers were able to wrap around the handle. When she pulled at it though, it didn’t open more than six inches.

She stopped trying to push it open after a while to both relax her arm and gather her thoughts. If she couldn’t get the door open she’d have to get through her broken windshield.There was some wiggle room between her legs and the steering wheel, which had gotten closer due to the crash. Though before she could get anywhere she had to get her seat belt off.

Using her good hand, that luckily was the right, she pressed down on the release and found that it didn’t work. She tried pulling and clicking but still nothing. Looking around she saw her purse and she reached for it. Her ex-fiance had given her a key chain type utility tool and she remembered that it had a small blade at the end of one of the collapsible arms. It was no bigger than a lipstick tube so she didn’t mind carrying it around and it was good that she did.

While the blade was small, it was sharp enough to cut through the belt, much to her relief. It took her what felt like forever to her, but was probably only a couple of minutes. When it fell away from her waist she felt much better, even though she was still in the car. The windshield was already broken and her best chance to get out of the car but now she had to focus on getting her legs free.

She could feel both her toes, which was a good sign, and after a quick assessment of her surroundings, she decided that pulling would be hard so if she used the opening the door gave her she could slide them over and pull them up.

Her plan worked with the first leg but the other was painful to move. She had tears streaming down her cheeks when she had both legs pressed against her chest. Her right thigh had dark bruising across it and after prodding it for a bit she was sure that nothing was broken.

Pulling herself, so she was half on the passenger's side and half on the drivers, Sakura grabbed one of the lighter boxes from the middle arm rest and pushed at the jagged edges of the remaining glass. She did not want to cut herself on top of whatever else she was suffering from so she was being careful. Once she was sure it was cleared of bigger shards she pulled herself up, gritting her teeth at the pain, but she kept moving knowing she would have time to contemplate her injuries later.

She got outside eventually and ungracefully slid down the bumper to the floor. Her body protested the movement, but she didn’t care at this point. She was out of that metal death trap and that's all that mattered. Stretching her legs out before her, Sakura examined her leg in the better lighting, but was unable to find a cause for the bruising other than the impact. Rather than dwell on her leg, she moved to other parts of her body, like her left arm. She definitely broke her wrist, if the pain and numbness was any indication. Before she could do anything for her wrist she needed to find her phone and call for help.

Getting to her feet was harder than she thought, but it wasn’t impossible. She walked around her car to the passenger's side and was able to push the door open quite a lot before it suck, but it was enough. Looking inside she immediately found her phone, but it wasn’t good news. The screen was cracked and no matter how long she pressed down on the home or power button it refused to turn on.

“Just fucking great.” She hissed, sending the phone flying through the air in a fit of anger. She swore when she got home she was going to invest in an indestructible phone because those fragile things people relied on for everything were not worth the price.

She knew she had to find the road, but before that she needed to set her wrist, at least temporarily until she could get to a hospital and have it correctly x-rayed. Grabbing some bandages from the boxes in her trunk she grabbed some medical tape and a few of the smaller, thicker branches that had fallen off of the trees around her. She very quickly, and silently wrapped her wrist with the sticks and tape, before rolling the bandages over it.

After setting her wrist in a makeshift brace, she cleaned and fixed up any large wounds the crash had created. It was only then that she began to look around her and what she saw shocked her. She was surrounded by trees, like so many that she couldn’t believe that her car had made its way through them. The trees were thick and slightly spread apart from one another, not big enough for the length of her car.

Brows furrowing she began to walk in the direction her car could’ve come from, given the angle, but it was hard to be sure since there were no tire tracks that led up to her car from any particular direction. There was no evidence that her car had driven across the unkempt grass on the floor.

She found nothing but more trees no matter what direction she went in and the space between them was just getting narrower and narrower. After a couple of minutes of bad news she made her way back to the car. She didn’t know where she was and staying with her car seemed like a smarter idea than getting lost.

She was able to get the trunk door open and pulled out a bottle of water from the case inside. As she satisfied her thirst she cursed her bad luck.

_Someone at the clinic will notice I never showed up and call for help,_ she thought. She was due back from the medical conference last night, it shouldn’t be long now…

It was with hope that Sakura sat down and allowed her tired, sore body to rest. She was unsure where to go, so she would remain where she was until she figured it out.

~.~.~

“You may have defeated me Itachi, but you do not know what pain awaits you now as the last of the Uchiha. Your future is nothing.” Madara grunted, his hands gripping the arm that was plunged into his chest. “With me gone and my dear brothers asleep the curse shall pass onto you and those that you call god's will forsake you.”

“I am not as foolish as you first born.” Itachi spat out, tightening his grip around the elders beating heart. “There will be no chance for your madness to affect me. There will be no more Uchiha in this world after you.”

A dark, broken maniac laugh escaped the dying man, “How naive of you to believe the fates would be so kind.” The cursed red eyes of the Uchiha flashed with a fire unlike any Itachi had ever seen. “Beware the second son you bothersome fool.”

Itachi had enough and in a second he ripped the other man's heart out of his chest. Madara’s body collapsed and Itachi crushed the heart in his hands before letting it fall to the floor.

He did it...Madara as dead…

The emptiness he felt in his chest for the last thousand years didn’t fill...he didn’t feel like he accomplished anything and it didn’t surprise him. His time in this world was done.

Using the last of his strength he teleported himself to someplace far away, somewhere peaceful where he could join the rest of his clan in peace.

~.~.~

A loud noise jolted Sakura from the nap she was taking and she panicked when she felt the ground shake a little. Was that an earthquake she asked herself, as she pulled herself to her feet. But that didn’t really feel like an earthquake, she lived in earthquake country so she was accustomed to the phenomenon and this was nothing like that. It felt more like vibrations of something hitting the ground, not that she knew for certain.

Making her way towards where the noise had come from, Sakura came upon the most unusual of sights. Looking as if they were just taking a peaceful nap was a man, surrounded by tall grass and wild flowers. It would’ve been a picturistic sight if not for the man being covered in blood.

Green eyes widened in alarm at the amount of wounds she could see with the amount of distance between them. Limping closer to the man, she was able to see that he looked far worse than she had originally thought. Her mind didn’t hesitate as she turned around and made her way towards her car, already calculating what she needed to help this man versus what she had in her car. There were a few boxes and bags of samples the medical convention had given to her, and there was her own med bag. Hopefully she had enough of everything.

Within minutes she grabbed all she could and made her way back to the man. Kneeling down at his side she pressed her fingers against his neck and felt a weak pulse, but that was all she needed to give her hope.

Using the utility tool she had used to cut her seat belt she began to cut off his clothes so she could have access to his skin. She left his pants in tact, because it was easy to just slip them right off. The shirt was not salvageable but that wasn’t her type priority right now.

“Can you hear me?” She asked as she grabbed the towel she had pulled out of her bag and cut into smaller pieces. There was no response, but she didn’t exactly expect one. She had no gloves and the towel she had was the one she had brought from home to use at the hotel. This was not sanitary in the least but this situation called for some unconventional methods.

Using a piece of the towel, which she wet with water from the bottle of water, she gently but firmly began to wipe away blood from his skin, particularly near the wounds he had that were bleeding.

“My name is Sakura Haruno and I’m a doctor.” She continued, “I’ll try my best to save you okay.”

“Sakura…” She froze at the sound of his voice, a dark velvety noise that demanded her attention. Dark black eyes peered up at her, but Sakura had a feeling that she wasn’t actually seeing her, they were glazed over in a fevered look.

“Yes, that’s my name.” She was encouraged by his ability to speak, it meant he still had a chance, he was strong. “What’s your name?”

“Itachi…”

“Don’t worry Itachi, I’ll have you patched up in no…” His eyes closed and he was out cold once again. Sakura frowned but at least she knew he was still alive.

She focused back on her work and after cleaning the wounds, she sanitized them with what little rubbing alcohol she had from her first aid kit. Some of the wounds he had were easily taped and bandaged but some were too big and she had to give him stitches though as she treated him she couldn’t help but notice that he had old scars scattered across his body. He had to have been in the army or special forces if that was the case. She thought, or at least was involved in some illegal gang activity. A normal person didn’t have that amount of scars and she had treated people from all walks of life.

She had stopped all the bleeding and all that was left was the smaller injuries but it was at this point that Sakura allowed herself to relax. She had done all she could and managed to feed him some pills to combat any infection, but unless his body could fight off infection on its own she didn’t think he would survive the night.

After getting him taken care of, she gathered her supplies and put them in one neat pile in case she needed them later and made her way back to her car. She had two blankets in the back and her suitcase, which she filled with more water bottles and the granola that she had brought with her for the trip, she made her way back to the small clearing her patient was in.

It wasn’t particularly cold out, but she covered him up with one of the blankets and set the other to the side. If someone was going to come looking for them then she had to stay still, especially since she didn’t even know where they were.

As the sun started to set the temperature began to drop and she knew that two blankets wouldn’t do much for both of them. She had a thick sweater in her trunk, but she needed something else. A fire.

They looked to be in a middle of a forest, and who knew what animals were out there, a fire would not only provide warmth and light, but also protection. Luckily for her, her father smoked and had a few lighters in her car, from whenever he came and visited her. A quick trip back to her car and she picked up two of the four and made her way back to their camp. Along the way she picked up some kindle and nice size logs as she went along.

Her ex really liked camping and had taken her along a few times. He taught her how to make a safe fire and how to find food and how to grill animals over a fire, how to identify plants that had antibacterial properties how to make love in a ten-

Now was not the time to think about that jerk, she frowned. Shaking the thoughts from her head she began to look for rocks to use as a barrier. During her travels for rocks she found a small stream and almost cried at the relief she felt at the sight of it. Clean water...what more could she want.

Once she had all she needed to make a fire and to keep it going for at least the night, Sakura began to set up the campfire. Clearing the ground around it of anything that could potentially catch on fire she quickly had the fire going at a healthy level. She knew that you weren’t suppose to start a fire with wood from where you were, but she wouldn’t care if a park ranger showed up and gave her a citation. It just meant that they had been found.

At this point it had darkened a lot and Sakura felt the effects of the day catch up to her. The warm lull of the fire made her drowsy and after a quick look over of Itachi she allowed herself to close her eyes, staying close by his side because while it wasn’t outwardly showing, she was terrified.

Another day passed and Itachi had yet to stir, when she fed his some water or tried to make him take a pill he would do it, but he never opened his eyes and said anything. She changed his bandages and the wounds looked clean. There was no infection and she could only guess that he was making a good recovery...but he wasn’t waking up and that was what worried her. Maybe it was the blood loss and his body was in a comatose state until it recovered.

Her mind was racing with possibilities and she was glad for it, it kept her sane because it was day two and still no one had found her. She cried around midday, feeling as if all hope was lost but she managed to get it together.

It wasn’t until day three that she was bored enough to look at the things Itachi had. She had originally pushed all his belongings to the side but the man had a sword and it didn’t stop there, he had what she assumed to be throwing knives, six arrows, and a bow. Was he a renaissance actor she had wondered but the actual wounds on his body corresponded with blades and puncture wounds so he wasn’t an actor. He also had beautiful muscle definition that she began to notice that morning when she was cleaning his wounds before bandaging them again.

Day four she had lost some hope that someone would come for her. She began to explore the area around them, taking the sword and knives Itachi had with her. She was looking for whatever she could find. Plants that could provide either food or medicine, water, food, a better shelter. They had been lucky enough to not have any nightly visitors to their camp, but she didn’t like how exposed they were and wanted to find a more sheltered spot. One where the cold winds of the night wouldn’t bother them. She had no success with shelter, but she had found some berries that didn’t seem poisonous, some nuts and she had found a fat bunny slowly hopping away from her but she found herself unable to kill it. Normally her ex, if they were camping, would hunt down the animals and bring them skinned and ready to be cooked to her. Though she knew she had to get over this if she hoped to survive out here...she was running out of trail mix.

The night of day five was the coldest one yet and Sakura woke up to Itachi shivering and she draped the second blanket over him and when that didn’t do much, she got under the blankets to provide him with her body heat and within minutes his shaking had stopped and she had drifted off to sleep.

Day six she still no better shelter and as she was making her way back to camp that day she realized that even if she found shelter, how was she going to move Itachi there? He wasn’t even conscious enough to move himself. He was healing fine but still no opening of the eyes, and it was frustrating Sakura. But most things were frustrating Sakura these days, she was hungry and cold and all she wanted was something good to happen.

Day seven it began to rain, hard. Even the thick branches of the trees they were under couldn’t stop all of it and Sakura had to make a quick decision to move Itachi. Her car was the perfect place, with the exception of the windshield that was busted, would make a good shelter. The past few days she had managed to organize the things in her car into the plastic bins she had taken to the convention so they were safe from the forces of nature. The backseat was too narrow and high off the ground to lay Itachi on. So she had pushed the back seats down so the back was completely flat and long enough to lay Itachi in.

Her leg had healed nicely, and while still a little sore she was able to walk on it with minimal discomfort. Her wrist was still in the process of healing, but she’d been careful to not stress it out too much. Itachi was heavy, but she had managed to drape him across her back, his arms around her neck, his face pressed against the side of her face and his feet dragging behind her. She was shorter than him so this was how she had to do it. She just hoped that she wouldn’t tear any of his stitches.

It took her about ten minutes to carefully drag him to her car and then another ten to gently lay him down in her car and arrange him so he was comfortable, or at least she hoped. She then ran back out and gathered their stuff at their camp and made her way back to the car.

This morning when the clouds were beginning to gather Sakura used the plastic mat that laid on the floor of the trunk and used it to cover the broken windshield so water wouldn’t come in and so far it was working really well. She had made sure that cloth part was facing towards them so the plastic, water proof side was outside

They were dry and the car provided them with shelter and the warmth they emitted was trapped and to Sakura this was the best nights sleep she’s had since she landed in this place. She felt safe because she was in an enclosed space, she was warm and dry. She cursed herself for not having thought of this before, but she also realized that it would’ve been impossible to move Itachi that early without opening his wounds up again. Either way, she was glad she had moved here.

Day eight, the ground was wet and Sakura didn’t have proper shoes for this. She was officially out of trail mix and whatever food she had. She was hungry and she had to find something other than the berries and nuts she had been gathering. During one of her explorations she had found a lake and had seen some fish in it. She could go catch some and grill them, she had done that with her ex so it shouldn’t be too hard. Aside from the fact that she didn’t have a fishing rod, she would have to improvise.

She stripped and got into the water, one of Itachi’s daggers in her hands, it was clear enough that she could see the fish. She had scouted around the lake and hadn’t encountered anything dangerous that lived in or around the water so she wasn’t too worried about that. After washing off a little and cleaning her hair, Sakura managed to grab a fish. She could feel it moving under her hand wriggling around and the sensation freaked her out and she let go of the animal. Realizing what she had done she curse and started again. This time when she grabbed a hold of one, she threw it onto the shore and quickly looked away as it splashed around on the dirt. She didn’t want to see it die.

She caught three more and let them die slowly on the surface before she got out of the water and dressed. Knowing that she should gut the fish away from her camp so not to attract scavengers. It was gross but not as bad as she thought, she just imagined she was cutting meat she had bought from the store in her kitchen. It was a long shot but it got her through it.

She quickly set up a fire and set up the fish to roast, after making sure everything was cooked she cleaned up her two fish quickly, feeling full for the first time in a week before grabbing the remaining two cooked fish and making her way towards the car.

Once she entered she shook Itachi gently, hoping he would awaken.

“At least wake up for lunch.” Sakura sighed, “You need to have some food for your body to recover.” To her surprise his eyes did blink open, but she knew it wasn’t complete wakefulness.

“Sakura…” He whispered, his voice dry and painful to hear, nothing like the first time she had heard him speak.

“Itachi!” She smiled at the man, he remembered her name. She quickly grabbed one of her water bottles and supported him as he finished off the medium sized bottle. “Here have some fish before you pass out again.”

“Foolish…” she heard him say as she turned to get the fish but didn’t question him on it. She needed him to eat before he passed out again.

She managed to feed him both the fishes and ask him if he was feeling okay, before he passed out again.

Day nine, Itachi would wake up up from time to time and Sakura took those moments to feed him whatever food she had managed to gather for that day. It was also by her fish lake that she found a cave. It was empty but it looked like it was a campsite once. There were fire pits at both the entrance and close to the back of the cave. It was naturally hidden from view behind a tree’s roots and just a rock that made it seem as if there was nothing there. It was a good place for a shelter but her car was such a great place too and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to move them there. Though she had to admit that since it was closer to their food source and had a more stable roof over their head it was a better option.

It was the very next day that Sakura lost all hope in being found by her family and friends.


	2. Reality

Sakura was sitting with the trunk door open, holding Itachi’s sword in her hands when she heard something that wasn’t the normal nature sounds she had become used to. Her eyes began to dart around the clearing as she got to her feet, her fingers tightening around the blades hilt. 

“W-Who’s there?” She asked, surprised at how clear her voice sounded because she was terrified inside. It’s strange how paranoid being out here made her. 

“Well, well, well what’s a woman like you doing here all by yourself.” A masculine voice sounded through the clearing as a few seconds later a figure stepped out of the trees with two other men flanking him. 

Sakura was sure that these guys were not the rescue team, and instantly she didn’t like the situation. 

“She’s not alone boss, there’s a dead man in that thing.” The guy on the right said, his eyes were leering at her.

“Then he won’t be missing what we’ll be enjoying.” The men all laughed. “Come here wench and I promise you’ll enjoy what we do to you.” 

“Stay away from me.” Sakura growled, holding the sword out in front of her, the blade wobbled in her hold. 

The men laughed harder, “Look, she’s shaking.” the leader grinned, it terrified her. “If you want to battle fine by me, I like it rough just as much.” 

He pulled out a sword of his own and ran towards her. Sakura panicked and in no time the man had disarmed her, the sword landing a good five feet away from her. She made a dive for it but one of the men grabbed her around the waist and threw her onto the ground. 

“Hold her still boys.” The leader grinned, “Let me have a bit of fun before we take her back to camp and the other boys use her up.” 

“NO!” Sakura screamed, “HELP!” 

Two of the men held her down as the leader climbed on top of her, tearing at her clothes, trying to get them off. Even as she struggled the leader worked at her clothes, and while he wasn’t able to tear them, since the fabric was too thick, he pushed it up, revealing her purple bra. She struggled harder and knew she screamed for help but there was no hope. 

“ITACHI!” She screamed but just as she took in a breath to scream out again the leader backhanded her across the face making her see white. She felt disorientated for a few seconds, not reacting as the man managed to pull off her jeans, and worked on pulling her underwear off. 

“Be quiet wench.” One of the men growled as he shoved a rag between her lips, making her gag at the rancid taste of it. “Go for it boss.” 

She closed her eyes as she sobbed feeling the man’s hands on her skin and his horrible breathing, but then it suddenly stopped and she felt the hold the two men had on her slacken. Opening her eyes she encountered the sight of Itachi standing behind the man on top of her, his hand covered in blood as it emerged from the man’s chest before her. Her eyes widened as she saw his face. It was...terrifying. 

His eyes were a burning red, and his expression was murderous. She blinked once and then she was covered in the man’s blood as Itachi pulled his arm out of his chest.

“Fuck.” She heard the man to her right say, as their leaders corpse fell down on her. The two men got to their feet and drew their swords but Itachi disappeared from her sight and she heard the worst screams and crunching noises behind her as she was frozen, unable to move from where she lay. 

A minute later silence filled the clearing, Sakura could hear as Itachi made his way back to her. His red eyes stared down at her, and she flinched when he reached for her, but instead of her, he grabbed the man on top of her and effortlessly tossed his corpse across the clearing. 

“Sakura.” He growled, staring down at her and they looked into each other's eyes for what felt like hours but was only a few seconds before he blinked, his eyes returning to black before rolling to the back of his head and he collapsed. 

“Itachi!” Sakura pushed herself to her knees and moved towards her savior. He was bleeding through his bandages, no doubt having opened his wounds. She quickly grabbed her things and closed his wounds and bandaged them before she allowed the events of the last twenty minutes catch up to her. 

She was almost raped

Itachi just murdered three people

she couldn’t just wait around for someone to save her. She needed to look out for herself and her patient. This was her reality now and she had to deal with it

but...

The emotional stress crashed into her and she allowed herself to cry for a short amount of time before realizing that the leader of those monsters said there were more. Someone would come looking for them so she had to move. Getting to get feet she grabbed whatever she could and made her way to the cave. She made sure nothing was inside of it before dropping off all the items and going back to her car. 

Itachi was exactly where she had left him and once he was on her back again, she managed to drag him towards the cave. At some point he seemed to have woken a bit and was able to support himself somewhat making the walk easier. Once she had settled him down in the cave and she got up to leave to go get whatever she had left behind he grabbed her wrist. 

“Clear our trail.” He managed to say before going back under once again. While short, she understood what he meant and would make sure there wasn’t any kind of trail left by them that would lead anyone to their cave. 

It took her two more trips and she had everything that was in the car in the cave. She made a quick grab for firewood before retreating to the cave. She used more of the tree leaves as a cover for the entrance, by pulling at the branches. She didn’t want to move, she didn’t want to go anywhere. She wanted to stay where it was safe. 

With the sword at her side and Itachi sleeping a bit further in, Sakura laid on her belly by the entrance, staring out at the world. She would keep watch to make sure the ‘others’ didn’t come here. She doubted whatever adrenaline had hit Itachi  would happen twice in one day and she wanted to be prepared. She was unsure what time she had passed out, but it was dark when she woke up. There was no sign of anyone outside their cave, but droplets of water were hitting the lake sending ripples across the calm water. 

Pushing herself to her feet she walked away from the entrance and to her patient that hadn’t moved from where she had left him. She went through the motions of checking his wounds and making sure that none had started bleeding again, or started showing signs of infection. When she had cleared his injuries she began to organize the things she had brought over in her panic. 

There wasn’t much and as she gazed at her things spread out before her she knew she had to go back and get a few things that would be useful to her here. 

She didn’t want to have to go back, but she knew the heavy mat that covered her windshield could make a good door for her cave entrance and she could put some plants and dirt on it to make it seem like just a part of the wall, but that would have to wait until she got things in order. 

That night she didn’t want to chance a fire in case someone saw the smoke and came to investigate. Now that she knew that there was real danger in this world…

She paused at her thoughts but nodded, yes this world, because she was a hundred percent certain that she was no longer in her world. Something happened to her the night of the storm and she and her car had ended up here. Maybe it was an alternate universe, wasn’t that something she had heard about before? String theory or something like that. Regardless she was here now and surprisingly she wasn’t as panicked as she expected. Her stomach ached with the anxiety that rolled through her at this revelation but maybe it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been because the moment she had seen Itachi and seen his clothes, his weapons she knew she was no longer in her world.

A sword would infer that they were back in time where people actually used them so was she sent back in time because of some weird storm stuff or…

Shaking her head she knew she didn’t have time to fret over the details, she would have a lot of time for that after she finished setting up for the night. Since she couldn’t light a fire tonight and they didn’t have the insulation of her car she needed to make sure that Itachi wasn’t going to get hypothermia in the night. The cave was cool naturally and she was sure that if she did make a fire that it would warm the place up, but not tonight. 

Turning back to Itachi she pulled some clothes in her suitcase and draped them over him, before throwing one blanket over him. The other was under him so to keep the chill of the ground away from his body. She took the tattered cloak that Itachi was wearing when she first met him and wrapped it around herself. She had washed his clothes, or what was left of them, of the blood a while after she found a water source and kept the lightweight cloak for herself, since she had more warmer and thicker clothes than Itachi. 

Now that she thought back on it, the three men who had attacked her had clothes and who knows what else with them...she needed to go back. 

She was terrified but if her ex had taught her anything it was to not let fear get in the way of what she wanted to do. Gathering her courage and rather than grabbing the sword Itachi had, she took his two daggers and with one last look at him turned and made her way through the darkness towards the camp. It was extremely dark but she had a small flashlight, but she only used it when she really needed it. 

Muscle memory helped her get back to the camp, and once she got there she waited in the darkness making sure she couldn’t hear anyone else. After a good five minutes of silence apart from the noises of nature and the rain she deemed it safe to move in. 

The bodies were exactly where she had last seen them and they had what she hoped they did; thick wool cloaks. Once they were dry and cleaned of blood they would be warm and help keep both her and Itachi warm. She was used to dealing with dead bodies, being a doctor and all, so she didn’t let herself think about what she was doing and began to mechanically take the three men’s cloaks off. Heavy with rain they weighed her down, but she didn’t care. 

One of them had a bag across his back which had some food in it and what seemed like coins. She undressed them all, stuffing all she could into the bag the man had, and carrying the rest in her arms. She took their weapons as well, two pairs of swords and one bow with a quiver full of arrows. They had knives in their boots, which she grabbed as well, but she left them in them. Knowing she’s have to come back to clean up her tracks she could come back for the stuff she had forgotten in her car once she dropped this stuff off. 

The trip back to the cave was made quickly and she didn’t even bother checking on Itachi, knowing he would still be asleep. She dumped the stuff and quickly made her way back to the camp. She waited and made sure there was no change before getting in her car and putting everything she needed inside the bag she had emptied and brought back. She grabbed the heavy mat and rolled it up carrying it under one arm as she grabbed one of the plastic containers that held a lot of the samples of things she had gotten at the medical conference. She stuffed all she could in it and when she was sure nothing was left behind that was important she began to make her way back to the cave, taking extra care to cover up her tracks as she backtracked. 

Her heart was beating rapidly when she was finally back in the safety of her hiding spot. She sat down and as the adrenaline wore down she realized how exhausted she was. Despite having fallen asleep earlier she was still tired, and after making sure Itachi was completely bundled up she laid down next to him and drifted off to sleep, a dagger still held in her fingers. 

The next few days went by quietly, it never stopped raining and she could feel the air becoming colder and seeing that it was the end of fall back in her world she could only guess that winter was starting here. There was a small window where the rain had stopped and she emerged to wash the three cloaks she had taken from the men along with their clothes, knowing that she could dress Itachi in those clothes when they were dry which would add an extra layer to protect him from the cooling weather. 

Two days after the move Sakura was laying out the cloaks in a dry, not as cold part of the cave when she heard voices from outside the cave. Grabbing the dagger that she had around her waist she made her way towards the entrance so she could peer outside under the cover of the overhanging plants. Through the vines she could see three men seemingly looking around the area. 

Sakura froze when one of the men looked over the area where the cave was but he didn’t seem to give it a second glance.

“Whoever it was managed to take the bosses stuff.” One of the men said, “Rolf had the papers in his bag and the gold.” Sakura knew immediately what the man was talking about, she had found a pouch of gold coins with a lion’s head pressed into them. There was also a piece of paper in there but she didn’t really bother reading it. 

“There were no tracks.” The one with the short dark hair said. “Whoever it was had stayed there for a while. It seems the boss found them and they had a battle.” 

“Did you see the wounds on Rolf.” 

“They took their things and fled,” The man sighed, running a hand through his greasy hair. “The closest town is Bui, we need to go there and check if they have had any visitors.” 

“What makes you think they left?” 

“They have enough money to live in an inn for months with the amount of money they found, why would they linger here.”

“You’re right, let’s go. These woods give me a bad feeling.” 

“Strange things happen in these woods.” The man with the dark hair nodd, “That metal box is just one of the things.” 

Sakura watched as they filled their water skins with water from the lake before leaving in the direction that she had never gone down. There were only three men and she hoped that there weren’t anymore. They were leaving and that would give her a chance to breath, she enjoyed spending time outside when there wasn’t eminent danger to be had. She would also enjoy a nice toasty fire warming up the cave but just to be safe she would wait one more day before doing exactly that. 

She remained inside for the rest of that day and went through the motions of checking on Itachi and waking him up enough to get him to eat some food and drink some water throughout the day. 

For the next two days she did exactly that, but she also began to inspect the things the men had in their bags further. The paper they were talking about seemed like it was some sort of border pass with a few signatures scribbled at the bottom. She assumed it was like some sort of passport and they needed it to cross a border or something. The bag of gold coins was definitely heavy and if she couldn’t find a way back to her world, it would be something that she could use.

She was also playing around with the bow and arrow because it was something she had seen in movies and always thought bow users were cool, but she very quickly got frustrated with trying to shoot an arrow. She didn’t bother with that anymore, opting to carry the light dagger with her everywhere it was a bit more useful to cut things and the like than an arrow.

The night she made a fire in the cave was the night she had the best sleep in her life. It was toasty warm and she ended up sleeping through the entire night without waking up even once. When morning came and she woke up she felt more energized than she had in awhile and when she checked up on Itachi that morning she was amazed by what she saw.

The wounds he had should’ve taken him months to heal, were already healed. A bright pink scar was all that was left of his bigger wounds, and by all means he was physically okay, but he still wouldn’t wake up longer than the short few moments so she could keep him fed and hydrated. She was worried and desperately wished that she could do an MRI and see that his brain was functioning the correct way. She couldn’t be sure of his status otherwise and it was worrying her, but at the moment she could only conclude that he was in a healing coma of sorts.

This was too much out of her element but she would try to be positive. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've just released all that I have completed and am working on the next chapter that will feature Itachi finally waking up.


	3. Are You Calling Me Ugly?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Excuse the spelling mistakes.

End of the third week: 

Waking from what felt like the longest sleep of his life, Itachi found himself in a cave. He knew it was a cave because of the dusty smell in the air, a mixture of old animal scents and the cold earth. Cracking his eyes open he could see the glow of the fire against the stone ceiling of the cave and hear the faint crackling of the wood. It was strangely peaceful and almost immediately memories of his time healing came back to him. He should’ve been dead after that last battle, that was plan, but here he was. 

A pale woman with pink hair and green eyes had found him. Sakura. She claimed to be a healer but he felt no foreign chakra within him. His own chakra would’ve forced a foreign one out if that was the case, which would result in making a stranger trying to heal him invalid. But he was here...she had healed him without the use of the chakra and that was intriguing.Of course his body would’ve started healing on its own, but it could only produce as much healing as he was able and he didn’t have a lot of energy left after the battle. 

He attempted to sit up, and while he was successful, he was extremely sore. A sensation he hadn’t felt for centuries. His wounds hadn’t healed completely, but a quick assessment of them told him that they were in no immediate danger of reopening. As he finally sat up the cloth that covered him pooled into his lap. It was a blanket with a thick wool cloak over it. He was also wearing clothes that were too big for him and very clearly not his. There were strange items scattered all around the cave but his sword was carefully placed within arm's reach of where he was laying. 

Grabbing the hilt of the sword he used it as a crutch to push himself to his feet. Pain shot through him as he attempted to stand, but he was stubborn and kept going. He had been idle for too lo-

The thought froze him...what was he supposed to do now. He only had one goal that had pushed him for so long and now that was done. He didn’t know if he could go to his brother or bring him back here. Even if it was possible to get his brother back, would he even wanted to come back, would he even remember. Half the world hated him, feared him while the other half would want him for his power to use for their own. He could go back to Shisui but what then?

Peace…

That felt like a reward he would want but he also knew that power invited more power. There would be conflict and he wasn’t sure if he could handle any more of that. He couldn’t officially ever come back to life, he had basically killed a god...no one should know. Half of them knew he had done it, but everyone thought he had died and it may as well be better if everyone continued to think that way. 

He took a deep breath and banished such thoughts from his mind. Right now he would find Sakura and either thank her or kill her for saving his life. A dark, raspy chuckle escaped him at the thought of killing someone for saving his life. Maybe Madara was right, maybe he would go mad. 

There was a slight limp in his step, but he knew as he got stronger his chakra would heal him and it would disappear...maybe.

There was a heavy mat of some unknown material covering the entrance of the cave, and past it was a thin wall made with a wooden frame of sticks, covered in vegetation. An attempt to conceal the entrance from prying eyes. 

Smart. 

A hazy memory of being attacked by three men came to mind, and her dragging him to this cave. 

She knew the woods were dangerous at least, and had survived long enough to allow him to recover. She was resourceful, smart and a talented healer.

A small lake has spread out in front of the cave and he very quickly spotted his healer. She was bathing in the lake. Her pale skin looking even paler than he remembered, and her pink hair was an unusual color. It was a shade darker than he remembered but it could’ve been due to being wet. Unable to help himself his eyes lowered, taking in the swell of her breasts, the puckered pink nipples, giving way to an expanse of unmarred skin leading to the v of her legs...she was naturally pink haired he thought curiously. 

“If only showers existed in his god forsaken world.” He heard her say, her voice shivering due to the cold water. “Even hot water, anything.” 

A smile played at his lips, but he didn’t want her first impression of him to be watching her naked. Instead he silently picked up the bow and arrows by the entrance, along with his sword and headed into the woods. He wanted to get a sense of their surroundings and hopefully find something else for them to eat tonight other than fish.

It was slightly warmer that afternoon compared to the days before so Sakura got herself together and decided to take an actual bath today. No more taking a rag and wiping the dirt and grime off of her because anything else would’ve been too cold too do. The water was still freezing but she wasn’t afraid that she would get hypothermia as a result. After making sure that her hair was clean, she washed the clothes that had been laying around for a while before finally washing her body and getting out of the lake. She dried herself off with one of her surviving blue towels before putting on clean clothes. Before heading back into the cave she hung up the wet clothes near some rocks and trees that were still facing the sun. 

The moment she entered the cave she immediately looked at Itachi and was shocked to find him gone. Cold, wet hair forgotten Sakura began to panic. Though after all the emotions flitted through her mind, anger was what lingered. 

How dare he just get up and leave the moment she turned her back on him. His sword and shoes, along with the bow and arrows that were laying the near entrance were gone. 

“That ungrateful.” She grumbled, not only did he take off with no thank you for saving his life, but he also took her stuff! Granted she didn’t really know how to use it but with some practice she could’ve learned! 

She was super tempted to follow him and drag his ass back but it was going to get dark soon and she wasn’t ready to be out this late without actually having an idea of where he was going. She noticed that he didn’t take any of the cloaks and the clothes he was wearing weren’t the warmest. He would come back if he was smart and didn’t want to freeze to death like an idiot. 

Of course underneath that anger was sadness. He was the first friend she had in this world, well friend who’s been unconscious for about ninety five percent of their time together. She doubted he even remembered her name now that he was awake and not delirious. It was a depressing thought but she didn’t hold it against him, it wasn’t his fault he was unconscious almost all the time. 

Sakura sat down in front of the fire once again and decided that she would be fine without him...maybe. Though she doubted she could live here for the rest of her life. At this rate she’ll have cleared the lake of all edible fish and probably die of either the cold or hunger. 

One of her hopes was that her patient would wake up and know exactly what to do. As a thanks for saving his life he would help her by taking her to his home, a home that that he would offer to share with her and pay for everything because she had no money given that she was in a new world. Maybe she could become some sort of naturalist doctor and learn about the medicine here and open her own-

“God get over yourself.” She snapped at herself feeling more and more bitter every passing second. “This isn’t some fairytale.” 

“I would hope not, those usually end in tragedy.” 

Sakura jumped at the voice and quickly spun around to see the man she had been cursing. He was tall, taller than her ex-fiance and those wide shoulders framed by his long black hair falling around them. The clothes she had put on him were too big for him, but it couldn’t hide how gorgeous his body was. Her eyes looked him over from head to toe and he didn’t seem any more injured than he was before. Her eyes also took in the bundle of fur he held by his side.

“I apologize for disappearing without notice, but I thought we would both do well tonight without fish.” 

Sakura flushed at his words, but more at his voice than the food, not that she was ungrateful for the food because she was done with fish like last week. It was rich but rough, probably from misuse, but she was curious. She wanted to know how it sounded normally. She had gotten a hint of that when they first met but she could barely remember how his voice sounded now. 

Snapping out of her inappropriate thoughts, Sakura looked at the bundle in his hand. “What did you bring?” 

“I found a fox.” He replied, placing the bow and arrow down, keeping his sword strapped to his back. He walked towards the fire, settling down opposite of Sakura. 

“A...fox.” Brows furrowed Sakura watched as Itachi unwrapped the fur, which she assumes he skinned from the fox, to pull out a few decent sized pieces of meat...it almost looked like a chicken breast but more bloody. 

The Uchiha took in her expression of disgust almost immediately, “Do you not like fox?” He asked.

“I’ve never had it.” She replied,”I’ve never even thought of eating a fox.” 

He nodded, gathering that she was not just a wild healer living in the middle of the woods. She was from somewhere where food was not hunted from the forest, she was used to an easy meal. 

“It will be tough, but it will be better than fish.” 

Sakura flushed again, “I didn’t really have anything else to feed you, sorry.” 

“Do not believe me ungrateful Sakura.” He offered her a small smile, “I wish to help.” 

“Thank you.” She smiled back, the earlier anger at him disappearing immediately. 

“Can you go wash these of the blood?” He asked, holding out a few pieces of the meat towards her. 

Sakura nodded and took the cutlets into her hand and just imagined it was a chicken breast not fox meat in her hands. Which sounded hypocritical of her but it was how she was raised. Fox weren't for eating, but it wasn't like there was any other choice, other than fish but she was willing to try fox just so she wouldn’t have to eat another fish again. When she got back she found Itachi using one of the knives she had left by the campfire to make skewers of some of the smaller wooden sticks she had found as kindle.

She handed him the meat and watched as he, almost elegantly sliced the pieces of meat and skewered them with the sticks and set them to cook over the fire. He was practiced at cooking over an open fire and she wasn’t going to question him about it either. He seemed confident and that put her at ease. 

“If I may ask, how did you get so hurt?” She asked, now that he was awake and not as delirious as he often was, she wanted some answers. 

He had been expecting that question and had come up with an answer that he felt was satisfying, he did not know her that well and while he was thankful for her aide, he didn’t want to be an open book. 

“I fought against a man that killed my family.” He replied, “I was finally able to find him and end what he had started.” 

Sakura’s brows rose and her eyes widened in shock, she wanted to push for more answers. She wanted to know if it was his wife and children, or his parents or both but she held back. As a doctor often times asking for more information would lead to learning things that she couldn’t keep a secret. Though she doubted after hearing this she could go to the police, if they even existed. 

“Oh.” She looked back at the fire unsure about what to ask next but there was one question that came to mind. “Was it worth it?” 

He seemed genuinely stunned by her question but he quickly recovered. Turning his gaze to the fire and the meat that was slowly cooking over it. They were quiet for a couple of minutes before he deemed the meat done and handed one of the four skewers of meat towards her. 

Sakura accepted it and bit into the meat and well, it wasn’t fish. There was no flavor in the meat, which was good and bad. Good because it meant that it didn’t taste gamey or whatever scavengers usually taste like. Not that she would know personally, she had heard all of this on the food channel. It was also bad because it didn’t taste like much. 

She was full after one since each stick had a generous amount of meat on them. Itachi easily finished off the other three.

“Why are you living in the middle of the woods?” He asked her, “From what I gather you are not originally from here.” 

Giving him a sheepish smile Sakura replied, “I’m not really sure how I got here to be honest. One second I was driving home and the next I was waking up crashed into a tree.” 

“I do not understand.” 

“Well I’m not sure if you’ll believe me or not seeing as you don’t know me or anything which is completely okay because even I don’t believe it sometimes.” She was rambling, she knew she was and she could tell he knew too, but was too polite to say anything so she cleared her throat and started over. “I don’t think I’m from this world.” She could see him about to say something and she cut him off, “I know it sounds crazy but I swear I’m not lying. I’ve had time to think about it and after seeing how fast you healed and the bandits you killed I was convinced that I wasn’t in my world anymore.” 

Itachi tilted his head to the side a bit and looked her over once more. She was wearing strange clothes and some of the things that were laying around the cave seemed foreign. He remembered being in a strange metal box of sorts at one point during his stay under her care. It wasn’t like he thought she was crazy, he knew other worlds existed but it was rare that people went through them without some sort of manipulation from either side. 

“I believe you.” He said, “The concept of crossing between worlds is not unheard of here.” 

“Oh really!” Sakura seemed excited, “It doesn’t in my world but I think there are some theories out there but I don’t normally pay attention to them. Does that mean that it’s possible to go back?” 

He shook his head as he threw the final, empty, skewer into the fire. “It is one thing to pull someone into another world, it’s harder to push them back to the right world.” 

Her face fell almost immediately and he was reminded of his younger brother when they were children and he had told him no for anything. “Though I am not an expert on the matter, there may still be a way.” 

Hope flashed on her face and he knew at once that she bore him no ill will. She was not hiding a hidden agenda from him. She wore her thoughts on her sleeves and it was comforting to think that pure intentions still remained in the world. 

“Do you mind if I look over your wounds again?” She asked.

He shook his head and began to take off the shirt she had put on him at some point. Sakura moved closer to him and examined the wounds that had healed nicely and didn’t show any sign of infection.

“How are you able to heal so fast?” She asked as she rewrapped the smallest wound, one that was the worst when she first saw him now looking he had scratched himself on a jagged piece of glass or something. 

“My chakra will heal my body as much as it’s able and as I’ve gotten better the faster I’ve healed.” 

Her eyes brightened in curiosity, “What do you mean your chakra heals you?” 

“Are you not able to use your chakra?” He asked.

“I don’t think that sort of thing exists in my world, my people heal at a slow rate, nothing like this.”  She answered.

“Chakra is a beings life force.” He said, “You have it, everyone does, but there is a difference between having chakra and being able to use it.” 

“How are you able to use it?” 

“It takes training and focus to be able to anything substantial with it.” He slipped on the shirt once he was sure she was done looking over his wounds. “But simple meditation can help bring it to the surface and help with healing wounds or sickness. Since you are sure that no one in your world can use it, it might be a result of your world as a whole. Some worlds are more likely to repress a person’s chakra and make it difficult to use while other worlds help bring it out.” 

“How fast do you think you’ll recover now?” 

“I used up a lot of power in my battle.” He replied honestly, “I do not have much strength to do anything like that for a while.” His chakra reserves were completely drained and he knew it would take at least a few hundred years to get back to that level again. He doubted he could even produce a simple fire jutsu at the moment.”In about two weeks my wounds should heal and my chakra levels should return to a useable amount.” 

“Two weeks.” Sakura let out a sigh, trying to count back how long she had been here. She had kept count and knew this was her third whole week here. “I’ve been here for a total of three weeks.” She admitted, “I honestly don’t know what to do.” 

Itachi nodded, he could only imagine how it must feel. Helpless and with no knowledge of where she was. He would not leave her here once he was ready to go. He would take her to a place where she would be safe and looked after before doing anything else, or rather before planning on what to do next. 

The next two weeks flew by pretty fast when compared to the three weeks she had only him unconscious as company. She had questioned him more on the subject of chakra and he offered to teach her how to call it forth, if she even could. Of course with nothing else to do she accepted his offer and began to meditate. It was hard at first, sitting still and controlling her breathing but after a week she was able to calm herself and her breathing and let herself feel.

The sensation was strange after that first week, she always felt like she was on the edge of something but still unable to reach it. Itachi assured her that over time she would be able to access it. 

“Most begin their training as children as they are more likely to connect with themselves. As they age their chakra grows and becomes stronger, easily accessible because the mind already knows what to do. Those that attempt to learn about chakra when they’re older are met with more obstacles than children because they drag themselves down with doubt and questions.” 

Sakura grinned at the man, “Are you saying I should stop thinking.” 

The twinkle in his eye told her he knew she was teasing, “I’m certain if that occurred then whatever charm you possess might just fade away.” 

Sakura flushed at his words, “Are you calling me ugly?” She asked, brows furrowed at his words. 

Itachi bit back the smile that threatened to come forth. “I find that physical appearances are only but a positive side effect when paired with a beautiful mind.” 

“That doesn’t answer the question!” She exclaimed. 

Another night he finally answered her question from the day he had first woken up. They were eating some rabbits he had hunted earlier that day.

“I have thought on what you had asked me when I first woke.” He began, making her look up from the skewered rabbit meat before her. She looked hesitant to eat it, having mentioned to him that her parents had given her a bunny as a pet once. 

“You walk around most of my questions.” She grumbled, having found out over the week that Itachi was a sarcastic, teasing son of a bitch and while she enjoyed the banter it left much to be desired. 

“You had asked me about whether or not I felt anything when I finally killed that man.” Sakura perked up, Itachi almost never talked about his past. She nodded at him to continue. “I must say that no, I felt no satisfaction in ending his life. My family will not come back because of his death, but I do not regret killing him.” He watched her closely, finding no sign of judgement in her gaze, only curiosity. “He had killed more than just my family and had ruined the lives of people I did not know. He would’ve continued if I had not stopped him and I am glad I did, but his death does not bring me closure.” 

They sat in silence and ate their meal, Sakura even took a bite after much consideration and found the meat to be tender, surprisingly enough and tasted somewhat like chicken. 

“It didn’t seem like you killed him for no reason.” Sakura said, once she had finished her dinner. “I don’t really condone violence, but if he was going to hurt other people then you helped prevent that and saved all those lives.” Sakura was being biased she knew. Itachi had saved her life from those bandits and while she wasn’t okay with seeing people get killed before her whatever those guys had planned for her was worse. She liked Itachi and didn’t want him to feel bad. “People would usually consider you a hero.” 

“Hm.” He didn’t respond, he was lost in thought. Heroes didn’t force their younger sibling to go to another world to never return. Heroes didn’t kill people that had not wronged them. If he was to be honest a part of him enjoyed Sakura calling him a hero but guilt quickly overcame that. 

“I mean if you really want to redeem yourself you could help a poor, beautiful, smart, defenseless girl find her way back home.” Sakura teased, hoping to break the tension in the air. It worked. 

“Beautiful.” He raised a brow, “I’m sure you have yourself confused with someone else.” 

“ITACHI!” 

He easily dodged the wooden stick she threw at him. 

The next day he promised to help her find a way home and if that was impossible he would look after her. He had a home and he would welcome her into it as thanks for her help.

“Are you sure you want to live with someone as ugly as me?” She sneered. 

“I’m sure my eyes will adjust.” He dodged the dagger she threw his way.

Of course Sakura had accepted his offer, she would’ve been crazy not to. She knew he was teasing her, he ad admitted to that much one night.

“You remind me so much of my younger brother Sakura.” They were watching the rain fall from the entrance of the cave that day. She had just stopped meditating that day and they were enjoying the peaceful afternoon. She was listening because he rarely talked about his family. “I used to pick on him a lot when he was younger because he would make the cutest faces and I found myself unable to stop. He started crying once and our mother scolded me for taking it too far, but I still did it.” 

“Why?” She had asked. 

“Because his crying face was even cuter.” 

Sakura had laughed so hard that day that she started crying, missing the soft smile on his lips as he watched her. 

Around the end of the second week he asked her about herself. 

“You are always asking me questions Sakura, tell me about yourself.” 

Sakura opened her eyes looking over at the taller male leaning against the wall on his side of the cave. “What do you want to know.” She spread her legs out before her, instead of crossed like how she was sitting before. 

“What did you do in your world, you mentioned your were a doctor.” 

“Yeah, I’ve wanted to be a doctor since I was thirteen and my grandmother passed away. I wanted to be able to help her and other people like her so I had made up my mind and ran after my goal. I went to school for what felt like forever but I was finally able to become a full fledged doctor. I have my own clinic and everything.” 

“Did you live with your parents, you mentioned them before.” 

“No, when I went to college I moved out, college is like advance schooling after basic schooling. After three years I finished my undergrad and got into a good medical school where I took more classes and then I got to work in the field for a few years while I was also going to classes so I was able to finish early.” She realized that he might not understand a few of the concepts so she went back to explain. “Let me start over…”

Itachi nodded, the process of becoming a healer or doctor in Sakura’s world was long and required a lot of skill before being allowed to treat people on their own. Unlike his world where someone with minimum skill would be the most qualified person around. 

“Were you living by yourself?” He asked, coming from a large clan that was very traditional he grew up with certain ideas in mind when it came to the fairer sex, not that he particularly cared about any of them. When he moved down to the Senju clan in Konoha with Shisui for a short period the women there were extremely different than his own clan. They were more independent and he found that he didn’t mind this way of living. 

“For a little bit, but then I met my fian- ex-fiance.” She sighed, her expression falling at the thought of him.

“Were you engaged?” 

“Hm.” She nodded, “I met him in the hospital. They had brought him into the ER and he was so hurt. We still aren’t sure what had happened to him, but we managed to save him.” She smiled fondly as if remembering a pleasant memory. “He couldn’t remember anything except for his first name and I guess I grew to like him. The cops decided to give him housing as they tried to figure out who he was but there was no luck. No one came forward at the missing persons notices. Either way I would visit him and I guess we just fell in love.” Her expression darkened once again. “We were together for a year and he proposed, I was so excited and then just three months later he was in bed with another woman.” 

“Hm.” 

“That’s it!” Sakura looked angry, “That’s exactly what he responded with when I asked him about it. Can you believe it!” Itachi watched as her face reddened in anger. “He just went ‘Hm’, when I asked him if he was having an affair.” 

“That is not very smart.” 

“Right, he could’ve offered any excuse rather than ‘hm’.” Sakura ranted, “Sasuke is so much smarter than that, I know because I spent a year with the guy. Whenever I think back on it, it sometimes feel like he did that on purpose and wanted me to see him fucking that girl in my house.” 

Sasuke

The name made Itachi freeze, he had avoided saying his younger brothers name for as long as he could remember. Everytime he heard that name or thought of it, guilt would begin to creep up in him and he had no time to feel anything while he hunted for Madara. 

“What did he look like?” Itachi asked, and immediately regretted it when Sakura looked at him suspiciously. 

“Why do you want to cheat with him too?” He flinched at those words; this was a touchy subject. They sat in tense silence as Itachi waited for her to continue. Eventually she let out a sigh and seemed to calm down. “This might sound weird but he kind of looks like you, same dark eyes, same hair, except his was shorter. It was ridiculously messy too, no matter what I did to it, it never wanted to stay down. He looked like he just woke up all the time.” 

Itachi felt his heart rate pick up as his mind began to process this information. This was without doubt Sasuke, his baby brother. He was alright, he had survived the portal and had lived. He was alive, he had fallen in love, and ruined it apparently, but the important part was that he was alive and functioning. 

His eyes focused on the pinkette before him, she had seen him had loved him. His heart felt lighter and he felt like he was being sent a sign from the gods. 

“Was he healthy?” 

“Yeah, whatever had happened to him didn’t have any lasting results. He wasn’t able to blame his infidelity on a brain injury.” Sakura wrapped her arms around herself, not wanting to think on the man that had broken her heart. “Can we not talk about him please.” 

“Do you hate him?” 

Sakura froze, and stared at the fire between them. “No.” Itachi wasn’t sure he had heard her right but she repeated it, louder, clearer. “No. I hate what he did because there is no excuse for it but I guess I understand why. I was never home, I was always working or doing something work related and sometimes I barely saw him once a week. I guess it would be natural that he sought out someone else. My not being there doesn’t give him an excuse to cheat on me, I think him breaking up with me would’ve hurt less.” 

Itachi couldn’t defend his brothers actions, it was foolish what he had done but just knowing his brother could feel emotions at all was comforting. Sakura seemed like a wonderful woman, it was a shame his brother couldn’t be less rash and impulsive. 

“I will get you home Sakura.” He said, “Then we can knock some sense into Sasuke.” 

She laughed. 

After she had fallen asleep Itachi began to think. This was no coincidence that Sakura was from another world. One that a vulnerable Uchiha lived in, who was her lover. Someone was behind this, someone powerful because pulling someone into their world from another, with a very specific person in mind was nearly impossible. He needed to find this person, but first he would do what he had promised Sakura. He would get her to Shisui and have him look after her while he found answers. Maybe there was a chance he would be able to get his brother back. 

Sasuke...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From watching the anime and reading the manga the way Itachi interacts with Sasuke is completely different than when he is with anyone else, probably because of the situation around him and he has to be mature and stuff but I always imagined him as a person who is at heart sarcastic, and likes to tease people, especially those that he likes. I've decided to depict him like this towards certain people, those he feels he can open up to without judgement versus those he has to work with.   
> If you don't like this Itachi sorry.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, Thank you to the people who left comments, I was very encouraged by them and reading them always makes me want to write more!! 
> 
> Excuse the mistakes English is not my first language, and I still have no Beta. I know I said every Thursday there would be a new chapter but I’ve decided on Wednesday, though if I end up finishing early and I'm too excited to wait until Wednesday they might come out on Tuesday nights but yeah, enjoy!

 

Rolling over in his bed Sasuke groaned as he reached out to grab his vibrating phone. He caught a quick glance at the clock at his bedside table and angrily wondered who would call him at four in the morning. A quick glance at the phone screen and he recognized the familiar number, it was from the hospital that Sakura worked at. Curious about why they would call him he answered the phone. 

“Hello?” He answered. 

“Sorry to bother you Mr. Uchiha but have you been in contact with Dr. Haruno in the past few days?” The woman on the other line asked.

“Sakura?” No he hadn’t seen his fian- Ex-fiance for almost a week now. The last time he had seen her, or rather her car was a starbucks drive-in at like five in the morning. “No, is something wrong?” 

“We’re not sure. She was due back from a medical conference two days ago but we haven’t been able to get in touch with her since.”  

“Was the conference supposed to end two days ago?” He asked, his brow furrowing slightly at the thought.

“Well no but-” 

Rolling his eyes both in relief and this woman's overreaction he let out a sigh, “Look if the conference isn’t over she’s probably still there, or maybe she decided to take a break.” 

“I-I suppose. Thank you for the help Mr. Uchiha.” The woman said before hanging up on him. 

“Who was that babe.” Sasuke looked down at the redhead next to him. 

“No one.” He responded, putting his phone back onto the side table and laying back down in bed. He stared at the ceiling, the frown on his lips not disappearing even as the woman next to him began to kiss his neck. It wasn’t like Sakura to skip work even for work, that woman was impossible to get out of the hospital for something simple like a dinner together or whatnot. 

A wandering hand reached under the sheets and effectively cut off his train of thought. 

It wasn’t until a week later that he received another call and this time from someone who refused to even look at him much less talk to him. It was Sakura’s mother, Mebuki Haruno. 

“H-Hello.”

“Sasuke.” Not Uchiha, he immediately realized, she had stopped calling him Sasuke when he and Sakura broke up, referring to him as Uchiha was her way of blocking him out of her life and her calling him by his name was strange. 

“D-did you need something Mrs. Haruno.” He asked, swallowing the fear that was beginning to creep up in him.

“Sasuke have you talked or seen Sakura these past few days.” His heart began to race, getting a call from the hospital a day or so after Sakura’s supposed disappearance was one thing but a week later getting a call from her mother was something else entirely. 

“I haven’t.” He replied, “What’s going on, is Sakura still not back yet.” 

There was a pause on the other side and he could hear Mebuki hold back a sob. “No.” 

A few days later he was greeted by a detective at his door. The man asked him questions, like where were you a week ago, had he seen Sakura? Why had they split up, was he still angry at her? It didn’t take a genius to figure out that he was a suspect in this investigation. They thought that he had killed or kidnapped Sakura and the very thought of that pissed him off. He would never hurt her but the detective didn’t care about that, he just wanted the facts. 

There was an incoming call from Karin on his phone once the detective had left but he ignored it. Grabbing his car keys he made his way to the house he had shared with Sakura. He still had a key because some of his things were still in that house and he was slowly working on moving them to his new place before giving Sakura the key back. 

Sakura lived around the edge of the town and while he was living with her it wasn’t that big of a problem but he did have reservations about her living there by herself once he had moved but of course at that point she didn’t care what he had to say. 

The house was just as he remembered, but this time there wasn’t a short pink haired terror watching his every move. A heavy feeling settled in his chest the closer he got to the front door. There was a slight tremor in his hand as he pulled out the key and unlocked the front door. A dreadful silence greeted him as the dark living room greeted his view. Swallowing he turned on the lights and began to look around for any signs of his wife having been home, or anything else. 

After a thorough look through the entire house, and finding old bottles of sake and pictures of him and her in the trash he could be sure that she hadn’t been home in a while. The expired milk in the fridge and rotting vegetables told him enough. 

Cursing he slammed the fridge door shut, hating himself for ignoring her for as long as he did. When she told him that she was going to be gone for a few days for a conference he just accepted it and-

Had she run off with some other guy?

The thought froze him and he had to physically shake himself away from that thought. Even if she had it was none of his business, but he doubted she would’ve kept her mom in the dark. He doubted that theory, but what else could it be? 

Seeing that there was nothing else he could do here, he decided to head on home. There wasn’t much he could do on his own at this moment so he would wait until the police found something. He hated the idea of just waiting around and doing nothing, but what else could he do.

On the drive back into town he kept an eye on the road that led to Sakura’s house for anything. If her car had crashed they would’ve found it by now, the police had sweeped through the area just in case. He was informed of that by the detective that had come to his door. Though there was something different on the drive back. Skid marks on the road caught his attention. They were new, he was sure because he had traveled this road a hundred times and had memorized every rock and patch of dirt along the way. 

Pulling his car over to the side he got out of the car and made his way towards where the end of the skid marks which abruptly stopped at the edge of the road. Brows furrowed he continued into the woods surrounding the road. The floor seemed untouched by tires though something white caught his attention and a closer look at it revealed to be a dead snake.

“What the hell…” He reached out towards the snake and jumped as it moved and lunged at him. He was unable to move away in time and the last thing he felt was the snake biting into his arm.

... 

... 

“Hey wake up!” Sasuke woke to someone shaking him, violently. He reflexively pushed whoever was shaking him away and got to his feet, immediately on alert. “Urf.” As his vision cleared he noticed the blond on the floor glaring up at him with impossibly blue eyes. “What gives man!” 

“Who are you.” Sasuke asked, his eyes taking in his surroundings noting that they weren’t familiar. 

“If that’s how you greet your saviors then I don’t want to meet your enemies.” The blond haired man grumbled as he got to his feet. 

Sasuke felt himself relax a bit, “What do you mean savior?” he asked cautiously. 

“Look behind you.” 

Sasuke did and was shocked to find a four men either passed out or dead behind him. “What the hell.” 

“They were talking about taking you to...someone when I showed up and saved your ass.” 

Take him somewhere, Sasuke quickly put two and two together. If they were trying to kidnap him then they could have also taken Sakura. He needed to call the police. He checked his pockets but to no avail, they were empty. 

“Let me borrow your phone, I need to call the cops.” He reached out his hand towards the blond. 

“A what?” 

Sasuke could feel the strings holding his temper back begin to snap, “Your cell phone so I can call the police.” He grounded out, but when he saw genuine confusion on his face he paused. Could he really not know what a phone was? 

He eyed the blond from head to toe and then the four men passed out on the floor, then back at the blond. Something was off about them, something different. The blond was wearing strange looking clothes, well bright orange was a strange color on it’s own but the style of clothing, the cut of the cloth, the accessories, the weapons. 

Where the fuck am I.

 


	5. Chapter 5: Walking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: In no way am I a medical professional so whatever I may or may not write into this story may or may not make sense. I’m getting that out there before people start throwing facts at me that I will one hundred percent agree with. Just for the sake of the story go along with it okay, and if it really does bother you, any pre-med majors, doctors, nurses etc. out there, you can help me find a real, logical treatment/illness to write in.

 

“What about all my stuff?” She knew it was a dumb question before it even came out of her mouth but a part of her was hesitant leaving anything behind. 

Raising a brow Itachi looked over the contents of their cave, there were things that Sakura had called medical tools. “We can’t take everything.” He shook his head. 

“But…” She trailed off and turned her back to him, Itachi had spent enough time studying her to realize that she was thinking, “is it safe just leaving it here?” 

“I think so.” He replied, as he tied on the cloak. “Most people do not wander this deep into the woods.” 

“I guess you’re right.” Sakura sent one last glance at her plastic containers and suitcase before turning back to look at Itachi who had just finished placing his sword on his back, along with his bow and the arrows. They had decided to leave the extra bow in the cave since Sakura couldn’t use it, but they had kept the daggers. 

Itachi had kept most of them, but gave one of them to Sakura for her own protection. Other than teaching her how to meditate, Itachi had also given her a bit of training on how to use the dagger against an enemy. It wasn’t anything advanced, rather it was a simple how to move out of the way fast enough and how to do enough damage to distract the enemy so she could run. He obviously had it planned around his ability to get to her fast enough to where she didn’t anymore skills. Which she didn’t mind, stabbing people with a knife wasn’t what she wanted to do. 

“Come.” He had finished fixing his weapons and began to make his way towards the entrance of the cave. Sakura put on the bag and threw her cloak over her shoulders, tying the two ends together under her chin before following after him. 

The cold air didn’t hesitate to hit her the moment she was outside. It was definitely getting colder each passing day and she was glad for the cloak because only her face was actually feeling the cold air. 

During their two weeks since Itachi had woken up he had been collecting furs from the animals he had hunted for their dinners and after cleaning and drying the pieces he sewed them into the lining of their already warm cloaks. Though sewing would be too delicate of a term for what he had done. He took strips of animal fur and cut small holes all through the cloak and furs and them tied them together. It wasn’t the most stylish pieces but it definitely was the warmest. 

It was still early in the morning, the sun only rising in the past thirty minutes or so. She remembered the night before where Itachi explained that he wanted to get an early start so they could make it a good distance before having to stop for the day. 

_ “But where are we going?” She had asked. She knew that he was going to help her see if she could back home so she wasn’t worried about where they were going, but she was curious about where they were going.  _

_ “We’re going to Konoha.” He replied, “The home of the Senju clan, and where my last living cousin resides.”  _

_ “How far is Konoha from here?”  _

_ “I do not know where we are Sakura.” Itachi replied, “We will head towards the town that you said those bandits were going into in search of us and find out from there.”  _

_ “Ah.”  _

_ “But from where I had my battle, which would not be too far from here, it was a month's journey back on foot.”  _

_ “That’s far.”  _

By no means was Sakura unfit, she used to go camping and hiking with Sasuke every once and awhile and work at the hospital always kept her on her feet as she moved from place to place doing her rounds. She had a bit more endurance than other people but a month of nonstop walking was going to test even her. Especially if she was already this tired and achy after only a couple of hours of walking. 

Itachi seemed to be fine, even with his slight limp there was no hesitation in any of his steps. He was on death’s door a little over a month ago and he was doing a lot better than her at the moment. It wasn’t even that they were walking at a brisk pace, it was the kind of walk she would do to get around her house. She couldn’t even blame her shoes since they were her runners, meant for this kind of stuff. She didn’t want to complain to the man who was limping but still trudging along that her feet hurt. 

She put up with it for a few more hours, noticing that the distance between her and Itachi had been slowly but surely getting wider and wider. 

Itachi had noticed the growing distance between them but he kept his comments to himself. Sakura was not used to this kind of travel that much was evident but she was also not complaining and it was sort of cute how she refused to even grumble about it. He could hear a creak nearby and decided that was where they would rest for lunch. Hopefully Sakura would be able to continue after their short reprieve. 

The moment Itachi said it was time for lunch Sakura fell on her ass and stretched her poor legs out before her, toeing off her shoes one at a time, before doing the same with her socks. Itachi watched her with an amused expression as he divided up their portions of the jerky they had made with the leftover meat and filled up Sakura’s water bottles with water from the creak before sitting down and joining her for lunch. 

“Are you able to continue?” He asked her once they had both finished eating. 

“Yeah.” Sakura reached for her socks and put them back on, followed by her shoes. “We should make as much progress as we can today because tomorrow I don’t think I’ll be able to walk.” 

“Then we should move on.” He held out a hand and pulled her to her feet. “Come.” 

A few hours after lunch they stopped again for a break because Sakura was now starting to complain about her feet. “I’m sorry.” She sighed as she sat down with her back against a tree. 

“You are not used to this, I understand Sakura.” He could detect genuine sincerity from her, “It is not your fault.” 

“But-” 

“We do not have a time limit to get anywhere.” He said. “I am still recovering as well so taking it slow will benefit us both.” 

She smiled at him in thanks.

The next morning Sakura was right and her feet hurt to even move. Tears of frustration began to well in her eyes as she tried to massage some of the pain away. Itachi knelt before her and gently pushed her hands away as his took their place. There was a light blue glow around his hands, which were cool to the touch, as he massaged her feet. The muscles were beginning to loosen and relax and the pain began to fade. 

“W-What did you just do?” She asked when he moved to her other foot. She flexed her now pain free foot and was amazed at the feeling of nothing. 

“I do not know a lot of healing jutsus, but with the way I train knowing how to ease some of the aches is important.” He didn’t mention that it was something he had learned as a child and hadn’t used it for over five centuries. 

“That is amazing.” Sakura was in awe at how simple the technique looked, “How does it work?” 

He explained to her and watched as her eyes brightened at the new information. It was painfully obvious that she wanted to learn how to do this and he had a feeling that once they were in Konoha she would request more training on the matter. 

Once they packed up their things, they were once again on the road. Sakura did well for most of the day but after lunch things began to go downhill. The ache was back, as expected and she was wobbling with every step. They stopped twice to let her rest, the first time it was ten minutes and the second time it was an hour. 

“The town of Bui I presume.” Itachi was standing by a cluster of trees looking out into the sunset and when Sakura finally managed to make it to his side she saw the small town with her own eyes. 

“Thank god.” She groaned, “Do you think they have a hotel or something?” Looking up at his questioning look she quickly explained, “A place we can pay to sleep.” 

“There are trade roads.” He commented, “It seems big enough.” 

“Do you think they have hot baths!” 

“We have the coin.” Sakura had given Itachi the heavy bag of coins when they started packing two days ago, because she didn’t want the responsibility of keeping them safe.

The main part of the town was encased by a nine foot wall made of wood, but there were farms and the like scattered over the landscape that Sakura could see. They headed towards the gates that were open and guarded by two men in armor that openly stared at them as they walked into the town. The staring continued, but mostly at her and she had a feeling it had to do with her hair. Itachi was also being stared at but not as much, and she had a feeling he was probably ignoring it, but she wasn’t used this attention and stuck close to her friend. 

Itachi walked up to a man who was selling carrots and began to talk to him. He asked him about a local in they could stay at and the man pointed them in the direction of the sleeping giant. Thanking the man, they made their way to the building at the center of the town square.

The inside of the inn was warm and smelled like freshly made bread and it made Sakura’s mouth water. The man who had given them a key for their room sounded like he was going to cough up a lung. Sakura desperately wanted to help him but she didn’t know if she should. Itachi had told her to lay low while she was here so that they could slip out unnoticed if needed. So she just followed Itachi to their room and let him order a hot bath for her. 

“While the shops are still open I’m going to go gather some supplies for the rest of our trip.” He told her after a girl brought in a couple of buckets of hot water for the tub that was hidden behind a dressing screen. 

“Okay.” She didn’t care, she wanted to get into that hot bath without feeling weird that he was in the room with her so he couldn’t get out of there fast enough. 

The moment he was out the door Sakura threw off her clothes, letting them scatter across the floor and all but dived into the tub. The hot water stung at her skin but she didn’t care, it felt like years since she last had hot water engulfing her. There were even soaps and oils and what looked like a porous rock. This was heaven, she had died this was it. 

She wasn’t sure how long she just sat in the tub enjoying the feeling of the hot water but when she eventually opened her eyes and saw the dirt floating around her she cringed. Her hands were pruney and she knew she had to get out of there soon or she was never going to leave. Very quickly she washed her hair using the soap and then scrubbed down her body with the soap them rubbed her skin with the stone just to be sure before stepping out of the tub and wrapping herself into one of the towels the inn had provided. She felt a hundred times better and knew that she wouldn’t underestimate the concept of hot water again. 

She slipped into the clean clothes and knew that she needed to wash her old ones. She was definitely going to ask Itachi to get them a bar of soap for the road, not just for her but also for her clothes. She didn’t want to use her dirty bathwater to clean the clothes so she decided to go to the front desk or find that girl again and ask for another bucket of hot water.

She made it out into the hallway when she found the man who was at the front desk coughing up a storm passed out in the middle of the hallway. 

“Papa!” Looking up she saw the young girl who had brought them their water running towards the collapsed man. 

Sakura also made her way towards them and reached out to touch the mans forehead. He was burning up, and a quick touch to his pulse was enough to show that he was alive but his heart was beating rapidly. 

“Is he alive?” The girl asked, watching her with confusion. 

“Yes.” Sakura replied, “I’m a doctor,” she noticed the girl’s expression didn’t really change, “A healer.” 

“Oh!” Realization and hope dawned on the girl’s face, “Can you help him!” 

Sakura wasn’t sure what the man was afflicted with so she had to do a diagnosis on him and she’d rather not do it in the middle of the hallway. “We need to move him.” 

“Our room is over there.” She said and then the two of them managed to move the older man to his bed. Sakura sent the girl to her room to fetch her pack as she checked the man’s vitals and to see if there were any physical signs of what might be wrong with him. When she came back Sakura unloaded her pack and began to pull out what she needed, including her stethoscope. A quick listen showed her that he was wheezing slightly as he breathed and a few other points that tipped her off to the problem. 

She lowered her hand slightly from where it was on his chest and she felt him flinch. Having the girl help her, she was able to remove his shirt and see the dark bruise just under his breast. 

“Did your father fall recently?” She asked the girl. 

“He fell down a few days ago.” She nervously answered, “He was riding Stipe, the new horse.” 

“He might have a broken rib, but I think it may only be a fracture.” She replied, her brows furrowing at the thought that the man was even standing after three days. 

The young girl’s eyes widened and began to water, “Is my papa going to die?” She asked fearfully. 

“Wha- what no!” Sakura quickly snapped at the girl, “He’ll be fine.” A fractured rib was not a problem, especially since he hasn’t been coughing up blood. It could’ve gotten worse because of the coughing but it didn’t seem too serious. Bronchitis on the other hand was the more pressing matter. “I need you to get me a few things.” 

Meanwhile Itachi had just stepped out of the shop he was in to find a group of gossiping townsfolk standing around. 

“Annie’s father collapsed again.” The old man said. 

“The healer said he won’t last the night.” An older woman replied.  

“That lady with the short pink hair who…” That was all Itachi needed to hear before skipping the cart where he was going to grab a few herbs and bee lining it to the inn. He could sense from the entrance that Sakura was no longer in their room and instead in another room of the inn. 

The young girl from before, Annie, ran past him a bucket of steaming hot water in her hands. He followed her at a more relaxed pace to a door at the end of the hall to find Sakura helping an older man sit up. 

He watched her as she directed Annie to place a stool between her father’s legs and place the bucket of water on there before covering the man’s head with the towel and told him to breath. 

“What does that do?” 

“The steam, along with that ointment oil that we put into the water will help open up his breathing and make the fluid in his lungs break up.” Sakura explained as she ran a hand across her forehead and it was at that moment that she saw Itachi. 

A sheepish grin spread across her lips, “I know you told me not to stand out but he literally collapsed outside our door. 

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes he motioned for her to follow him. “Keep him there until the steam disappears okay Annie, then come and get me so I can wrap his ribs.” 

“Yes ma’m.” 

Sakura then followed Itachi back to their room, where she put her stuff down on the bed and collapsed onto it. “Am I in trouble.” She asked, her voice muffled by the bed spread. 

“I had entertained the thought.” He said, “But we are in no hurry to move on if you wish to stay and nurse another unknown man to full health.” 

Sakura laughed, “I was going to ask if you could take me to the local healer.” 

“Are you ill?” 

“No, I want to see what kind of things they sell.” She replied, “This world isn’t as advanced as mine in medicine so I wanted to see what I could find that was similar to what I used in my world.” 

“Are you planning on being a roaming healer on our journey?” 

“I don’t know, but it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared right.” She smiled, sitting up on the bed,    
“Plus I took an oath to help save the people and while it wasn’t in this world I still consider them the people.” 

Itachi nodded, “Then be prepared, the town is already talking about a healer that just saved a dead man.” 

“But he wasn’t dead.” She pointed out. 

“Rumors grow Sakura.” He said, able to hear the hush whispers outside of their door. “Do not be surprised to what length these rumors will go.” 

“I think you're exagerati-” Her stomach growled, stopping her from continuing her thought. “I’m hungry.” 


	6. Chapter 6: Rumors

Itachi was not exaggerating when he said that rumors would grow. Sakura blinked at the amount of people standing outside of the inn that morning. She was woken up by the knocking at her door, that Itachi had answered, woken from his own sleep. She appreciated his bare back as he opened the door, revealing Annie standing on the other side, a nervous look on her face. 

“I’m sorry to bother you so early ma’m.” She began, “But some of the other townspeople heard about what you did for my father and they wanted to speak to you.” 

“We will be out in a minute.” Itachi sighed, closing the door as Annie turned and ran back down the hall probably to tell the people that she was coming. When he turned to look at her, his glare was accusing. Though she was too distracted by the muscles that flexed under his skin in his irritation. 

“It’s not my fault you’re not a morning person.” She grumbled, pushing herself out of bed and pulling on her shoes. 

Itachi walked over to his bed and began to dress as well, he could feel the amount of people waiting for them and he wasn’t going to warn Sakura. She doubted his warning last night and he was looking forward to see her face when she realized what she had gotten herself into. 

When they reached the entrance he was not disappointed, the shock and discomfort on her face was worth the early morning he had been hoping to sleep through. 

“Can you please heal my son!” 

“My husband…” 

“My wife…” 

The voices were overlapping and Sakura felt overwhelmed for a moment. The last time she felt this way was when she was still a student and had to deal with an ER full of a bus crash filled with tourists. It was hell that day. She hoped this wouldn’t be hell either. 

“What do you want to do.” Itachi asked once he noticed the panic in her eyes. 

“I want to help but there are too many people.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. 

He nodded and turned to the crowd raising a hand and as if by magic they became silent. He called forward a few men and woman and instructed them to set up a small area with beds and supplies for the ill. He told Annie and another young girl to help Sakura with whatever she needed before turning to the rest of the crowd. He announced that he was going to dictate who would see Sakura first and that if there was any argument with his choices, Sakura wouldn’t look at them. 

Things seemed to start getting crazy after that and in about half an hour this makeshift clinic was up and running. The waiting room was people sitting on the floor waiting for the receptionist, Itachi to call out their name to sent to Sakura, who was a few ways off behind a changing screen to have a semblance of privacy. She had with her, her two assistants who had gathered healing herbs that were grown in this world and more bandages. She didn’t want to use medicine from her own world because she wasn’t sure how it would affect the people in this world unless absolutely necessary. 

Itachi then started to send in people one at a time, the more serious cases first, but nothing life threatening. It was mostly children with a fever, or some form of the common cold and she was able to prescribe a few things for the parents to do to help prevent that from spreading and how to keep it from happening again. She also gave them tips to keep it from spreading to this level. To some of the more harder cases she sent them home with instructions with see her again tomorrow. 

She set a few broken bones into makeshift casts, telling them to have pain reducing herbs every six hours to help with the pain. For one of the men she had to have Itachi break the bone again because it had started to heal wrong. She didn’t have an x-ray machine but Itachi had used some of his healing chakra to check the bone. 

She had to pop a few limbs back into place, look at a few warts and boils. Deal with a few children who had chicken poxs and adults with fertility issues. Though overall everything went well that day and most people went home satisfied and happy that they didn’t have to pay the healer with anything. A woman who was heavily pregnant came and talked to Sakura about her fear of another still born baby and Sakura was able to put the fears to ease after checking on the baby with Itachi’s help. 

The next day the people Sakura told to come back did, along with a fresh group of townspeople who had heard the news from their neighbors and so on for the next two days. When the sun began to set Itachi usually made everyone go home before forcing Sakura to rest for the rest of the day and while she wanted to protest that if she just kept on going she could finish today's group of people she couldn’t stop Itachi from scaring everyone away. Though once she was submerged into a warm bath she didn’t mind that she was enjoying this and not being outside in the cold. 

On the fourth day during dinner time a man began pounding on their front door and ignored Itachi completely when he opened the door. “M’wife’s in labor!” He shouted, his eyes wide in fear and panic. “Please!” 

Sakura jumped to her feet and shoved her shoes on before following the man to their home. They didn’t live in the cleanest place but Sakura had to make it work. She had the man bring her water and towels and go search for some herbs that she didn’t need but she needed to get him out of the room. 

“Have you ever delivered a baby before?” She asked Itachi, as they waited for Sarah, the woman to dilate completely. 

“I was in a room adjacent to my mother when my younger brother was being born.” He replied, proud of himself because he was able to hide his discomfort of the situation. “But I will remain and help.” 

“Good, I need you to hold her hand when it starts to get worse.” She said as she checked her dilation again. 

A few hours later there was a healthy baby boy in Sakura’s arms as she cleaned and checked him over. She had Itachi sterilize a knife before cutting the umbilical cord and handing the baby to his mother. 

“He’s beautiful.” The woman cried as the baby began to show off his powerful set of lungs. 

Sakura smiled at the two before telling the woman what she should and shouldn’t do for the next few days to keep from getting sick. She also wanted the woman to call on her again if she started to get feverish because a woman during childbirth was the most vulnerable for infection that could lead to her death. 

The walk home was quiet, both of them feeling proud of their actions tonight helping deliver a healthy baby boy. They also wanted to go to bed. Itachi hadn’t ever thought of himself as someone who would one day deliver a baby in the house of a total stranger but here he was. Shisui was going to have a field day if he ever heard of this. 

It was when they were almost at the Inn that a man stepped in front of them causing them to stop. 

“So you’re the so called ‘healer’ that’s been stealing my customers.” The man was bald wearing what reminded Sakura of a monk’s robes with an angry expression on his face. 

Immediately on the defense Sakura tensed, “Who are you.” 

“I am the official town healer.” He spat at her, “and I will not have a traveling woman, a harlot taking away my good coin.” 

Sakura felt her face flush in anger, was he calling her a whore. “If you’re the so called town healer then why the hell aren’t you helping these people!” She snapped. Itachi tensed as he watched the man become more agitated.  

“If they do not have the coin to ask for my assistance then I see no reason to help them. That is why I’ve allowed you to use your so called skills on the poor but then you began to take my paying customers, giving them false hope and treatments that would neve-” 

Sakura had enough, “Forgive me if I view more than the rich as people who deserve to be helped.” 

“The poor deserve to die that is the way of the world. They are worth nothing alive and if something will kill them faster than living then it would be blessing because they are not important!” 

Sakura saw red and before she realized it her fist was flying at the man, catching him in the jaw and sending him sprawling onto the floor. “You’re the one who deserves to die.” She hissed at him. 

Itachi was not in a similar state of rage so he was able to see the crowd gathering, having heard the two healers yelling match they had emerged from their homes, peering from windows at the scene. 

“Let us not linger Sakura.” He muttered, as he placed his hands on her shoulders and began to lead her towards the inn and their room. He bit back a smirk at the fallen man’s shocked expression as if he never could’ve believed that a woman had punched him. Ass. 

Once they were back in their room Itachi gently pried Sakura’s fist apart and sent a bit of healing chakra into it, knowing she had done some damage to herself in the process. 

“That was a good punch.” He commented, when he was done healing it. 

“Sasuke taught me how.” She grumbled, “Did I mess up?” 

“Why would you think so?” He asked, still kneeling before her and having a front row seat to the guilt on her face. 

“I-I know I stopped us from making any progress when we got here and I drew so much attention to us and me punching that guy...what if we get arrested? What if we become outlaws! Itachi I’m not from here, this isn’t my world and I’m just doing whatever I want because it’s what I’m used to. What if what I’m doing isn-” 

He pressed a finger against her lips silencing her rambling, he kept his finger there as he looked into her eyes that were starting to well up with tears. “If helping those that need it is common in your world then I would say we need more of that here.” He offered her a small smile as he took his finger away from her lips. “You are precious Sakura, do not believe for a second that your help is unnecessary or worthless. This may not be your world and these not your people but know this, you are important to me and I am willing to look after you.” 

He had hoped to stop the tears but they began to fall anyway, revealing an adorable crying face. So much like Sasuke, he thought and an ache for his younger sibling came back. He found his hand moving on it’s own and he tapped her on her forehead. 

Sakura looked up at Itachi when she felt something gently poke at her forehead. He was giving her such a gentle look that she felt her tears stop, she felt her heart skip and her face flush. 

“I’ll take care of you Sakura.” He repeated. “You are not alone.” 

“T-Thank you.” 

The next day there were less people at the clinic but those that were weren’t in bad shape. Most of them were recovering and the other half just had scrapes and bruises. That morning Itachi had insisted that they leave within the next two days so Sakura was letting her patients know that she would be leaving in a day or two and to spread the word because she wouldn’t be staying any longer than that. 

The next day she and Itachi were invited to a feast in thanks for her help by the townspeople where she was given gifts and supplies as payment that she didn’t need. That night she and Itachi spit up the things they would take with them and what they couldn’t. The next day they handed out some of the excess food and herbs to the people Sakura had decided on the night before. 

A lot of people saw them off after that and Sakura felt her heart swell with joy that these people were super happy and somewhat healthy because of her. It almost brought her to tears at the thought.

Now that it was just her and Itachi again, both their packs filled to excess with everything they could need Sakura remembered that walking was a bitch no matter how good her mood. 

When they had stopped for lunch Itachi presented her with a book he had gotten for her on his visit to the apothecary. He had bought it from the shopkeepers personal collection, who was more than happy to sell it to him as thanks for helping birth his grandson. 

“It’s a book on herbs and their effects on the body.” He told her, “If you continue to help people it might do well if you knew what you were using.” 

That time she really did cry. 

When they stopped for the night Sakura read the book until it got too dark to see and then she began to meditate. She knew that Itachi only knew a small amount of how to use Chakra to heal but just that small amount that he knew was extremely helpful. He was able to feel a person’s bone structure with it and she could only imagine the possibilities of what someone with more knowledge, someone who was an expert could do. 

Could they fix broken bones in hours or even minutes, could they close open wounds, promote growth in cells and...her mind was going to explode at all the possibilities that existed. There was no way she was going to be able to meditate with her mind like this. 

“How were you able to tell his bone was healing wrong?” She asked Itachi, making him look up from his own thoughts across the fire. 

“It is difficult to explain.” 

“Can you try.” She pushed. 

“Go to sleep Sakura, we will be walking again tomorrow.” 

Sakura frowned at his tone, as if he expected her to just obey and go to bed. Though slightly irritated she could understand that he didn’t know how to explain. Though it was annoying that he just seemed to be waiting for her to press him more. 

The image of him smiling at her from two days ago flashed before her and she felt her face heat up and she looked away from him. No one deserves to be that attractive, she thought as she turned her back to him moved to her bedroll. 

“I’m going to sleep.” 

“Hm.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think so far, I love hearing from you guys!


	7. Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank everyone that reviewed in the last few chapters, your words keep me motivated and writing and I wouldn't mind hearing from more of you! 
> 
> I have a beta now but since I have a few chapters out they are working their way up, so for now this chapter is not edited.

Despite the rain Sasuke could make out the torches from where he and Naruto stood on the hill. "I can't wait to have real food." Naruto said cheerfully, "Come on Sasuke."

It didn't take a lot to figure out that he wasn't in his world anymore, Naruto's short explanation of where they were and then proving that he wasn't lying was enough to convince him. It wasn't everyday you saw someone make clones of themselves instantly. Sasuke was also able to conclude that Sakura could also be in this world so he decided to take Naruto's offer to help him out.

Naruto seemed to know who it was that was after him and had told him that before they could start the search for his ex they needed to talk to this person first about his would be kidnappers. He was sure the blond had called him a creepy snake bastard or something.

Taking supplies from the corpses of the men who had tried to take him let him have decent clothes and provisions for their journey. For some reason the idea of literally wearing a dead man's clothing wasn't as disturbing as Sasuke would think...after a few hours the thought faded. Now a few days later they were overlooking a small village as the rain poured over them. Sasuke was sure he couldn't feel his fingertips anymore and wondered how the blond idiot could sound so cheerful at this time.

Because it was so dark out they didn't encounter any people on their way to the only building with a lantern lighting up the outside. Probably to show people that they were open, or something. He didn't care either way, he just wanted to be out of this miserable weather.

Naruto pushed open the door and Sasuke walked in after him shutting it behind them. There were only about four people inside the building and two of them seemed like workers, while the other two were sitting together at a table playing cards. They all looked up to watch him and Naruto suspiciously, as if waiting for them to snap or something.

"It's horrible outside!" Naruto broke the silence, "Do you guys have a bathhouse or something?"

Well sometimes tact wasn't necessary, Sasuke scoffed as the man behind the bar smiled at them.

"Of course we do," He grinned, before turning to the older woman sitting by the fire, "Gertrude show these boys to the baths." He then turned his attention back to them, "Will you be staying with us tonight?"

"I don't think we wanna go back outside." Naruto fished out his coin bag, which was strangely shaped like a frog, and dropped two gold coins onto the counter. "Is that enough for a room and two bowls of food?"

"More than enough kid." The man smiled, swiping up the money quickly. "We'll have the food ready by the time you get back."

Then the two of them followed the woman into a bathhouse on the other side of the inn before leaving them alone. They undressed and set their stuff to the side before entering the bath. Naruto immediately jumped into the steaming water, but Sasuke hung back and used the provided water buckets to clean himself off a little. He wasn't a savage.

When he finally joined Naruto in the hot water the blond was staring at him strangely. "What." He snapped, feeling slightly self conscious.

Blue eyes shifted away from him, "Nothing."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at him and chose to just ignore him and relax. It had been too long since he had hot water to bathe in and he wasn't going to let some weirdo ruin it for him.

"Soooo," Black eyes snapped open in irritation and found Naruto staring at him once again. "Is your wife pretty?"

Sasuke felt his eye twitch, "She's not my wife."

Naruto gave him a perverted smile, "Sure she's not."

"We never got married."

"Did you know you talk in your sleep." Naruto's grin turned even more lecherous. "Oh Sakura don't touch me-"

Sasuke dunked the blond under the water and held him there for a good five seconds before letting him up again.

"I was just trying to make conversation bastard!" Naruto coughed, shaking water off his face.

"You could just try to enjoy the silence you idiot."

"No wonder she didn't marry you."

Sasuke's other eye twitched.

The two managed to exit the bathhouse alive and in clean, dry clothes they made their way back to the entrance where two bowls of steaming hot something was placed before them. Sasuke watched Naruto dig into his bowl without hesitation before he took a taste of the food.

It was palatable.

Naruto had three more bowls before declaring himself stuffed, Sasuke was already done eating by that point and all that was left was to go to bed. The old woman showed them their rooms, and left. They immediately crashed and unlike camping out in the wild Sasuke didn't wake up at random hours during the night, he slept so deeply that even Naruto's monstrous snoring couldn't wake him.

The next day the rain had yet to stop so they decided to stay where they were until it stopped. Naruto didn't seem to be in a big hurry to walk in the rain any more than Sasuke and they enjoyed a quiet day at the inn playing cards with the people that walked through. It seemed that word of visitors had spread throughout the village so everyone from elders to young children came inside just to look at them.

"Where are you boys from?" One of the older men they were playing cards with asked.

"Konoha." Naruto automatically replied, his eyes still focused on his cards.

"That's a ways off sonny, what are ya'll doing out here for?"

"Looking for his wife." Naruto motioned to Sasuke.

Sasuke glared at him in irritation, he had told Naruto countless times that Sakura was not his wife.

"Did she run away?"

"No she went missing." Sasuke sighed, deciding that it was better to gain sympathy from these people than suspicion.

"Oh."

One of the other men at the table grunted, "She had to be pretty if someone took her."

"Yeah." Sasuke absentmindedly agreed, watching as the older man put down a few cards, grinning toothily at the two of them.

"What she look like?"

"Pink hair, green-"

"Pink hair you say, I got word from Boris the herb dealer that there was some woman who saved an entire town from a plague a few towns over." Sasuke snapped his eyes over to the bartender who was obviously listening in.

"Explain." He didn't care about the card game anymore and that description sounded like Sakura.

"They say she came into town with a dangerous looking man and managed to bring the innkeeper back to life from the dead." The bartender continued, "They say she didn't do any fancy chakra techniques. Then the entire town caught a plague and she single handedly brought everyone back from the brink of death."

"Sounds like a rumor gone wild." The old man at their table grumbled, "Your turn boy." He growled at Sasuke.

Sasuke didn't have a good grasp of the game so he just randomly put down a card. "What else, are they still there?"

"No, once the plague ended they say the man she was with forced her to leave the town because the healer there almost killed her the night before, they were headed east last I heard."

Sasuke could feel a headache forming, Sakura was with some other guy who was dangerous looking. While this could be any other pink haired doctor, he had a strong feeling that it was Sakura. It couldn't all be a coincidence, he refused to believe that considering that someone tried to kidnap him the moment he arrived here.

"Ha! I won!" Naruto exclaimed, "Gotta do better than that old man, you have so many tells."

"Yeah, yeah."

As Naruto celebrated his win by ordering a round of drinks for everyone, Sasuke pulled the blond aside. "I know, I know, you want to go after your wife right."

"Yeah."

"The village she was at is not far from here so we can stop by there and see if we can find out anything else." Naruto took a drink of whatever the bartender had given him. "But for now we're going to get drunk and wait for the rain to stop falling."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and ignored the tankard in front of him. He wasn't really a drinker and the stuff in the cup smelled like gasoline; he wasn't going to chance it.

The next day the rain had stopped and they began their journey to the next village over. Surprisingly enough it was Naruto who was complaining they slow down because he couldn't keep up with Sasuke. While Sasuke lived an active lifestyle back home, going hiking when he could, going to the gym everyday or just jogging through the woods it shouldn't have prepared him for countless hours of just walking, but apparently it had. He wasn't the least bit tired and felt like he could go for the entire day. It was surprising because Naruto was the one who was the traveler. He was the one who should've been used to traveling by foot for hours on end. Though after seeing the man's diet Sasuke wasn't surprised.

"We already know your wife isn't at that village you bastard." Naruto whined, "We could get there slowly and it still wouldn't change anything."

"Once we find out where she was headed I'd rather have a shorter distance between us."

Sasuke heard Naruto mumble something in reply but he had a feeling that if he had heard him, he would've hit him or something. It wasn't raining and the shoes he had protected him from the muddy ground so he wasn't planning on stopping anytime soon.

It was a few hours later that the small town came into view and at this point the sun was beginning to set. Once inside they headed for the inn where the confronted the very much alive owner.

"I heard there was a pink haired healer who helped people here." Sasuke began, "I need to find her."

The man looked at him suspiciously, "And what do you want with her?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him, "I'm her frie-"

"She's his wife." Naruto interrupted, "They got separated a while back and we're trying to catch up with them again."

The other man looked Sasuke and Naruto up and down, as if debating whether or not he should tell them anything. "You look like the man who was with her, are you two related."

"Yeah that's his brother!" Naruto answered, discreetly nudging Sasuke with his elbow.

"He's my older brother." Sasuke lied, unsure why Naruto was so insistent that Sakura should be his wife in front of these people. He would ask him later.

"Well if that's the case they were headed east, I think my daughter mentioned something about catching a ship to Konoha."

Naruto's brows rose, Sasuke's fiance was also headed towards Konoha with someone else Could it be someone from the village that he didn't know? If that was the case then the person she was with would protect her right? This way they wouldn't have to worry about getting their fast enough.

"Did she have anything with her that seemed strange, something she may have used to heal people?" Sasuke asked, he had to sure that this person was Sakura.

"She did have this stick she would put in our mouths to check our temperature." The man replied, "I wasn't sure what magic it was enchanted with but it was pretty useful."

"Thanks mister." Naruto said before following Sasuke out of the building.

"What should we do?" Sasuke asked him once they were both outside.

"Now you're asking me?" Naruto grinned, "I thought you would've wanted to go after Sakura."

"She's safe for now." Sasuke said, "You heard the man, my so called brother is with her."

"The person we're looking for is also in the direction they're headed so we can keep on going." The blond looked around the town square, "Let's go get some good food before we leave."

"Hm."

A day later they were ambushed by some men that were obviously after Sasuke. Naruto had given him a few lessons on how to use a sword so using what little skills he had Sasuke was able to help fight them off.

Naruto made quick work of the men, feeling offended that Orochimaru would ever send such low level mercenaries after them. He had no doubt that by now word would've reached him that Naruto was with the guy he was trying to kidnap. Very soon he was sure that the snake would start sending more trained people after them and he needed Sasuke to be able to protect himself. The dark haired man had been quick to catch on whatever techniques he had taught him.

"We need to up your training a bit more." He said to Sasuke.

"What do you mean?"

"Orochimaru is going to send more people after you and that guy doesn't know when to quit. We need to make sure that you can completely defend yourself because I can't always be there to defend your pretty ass."

Sasuke glared at him, "And you're going to teach me."

"I'll have you know I'm one of the greatest warriors in my village!" Naruto yelled at him, "You should be bowing down at my feet begging for the great me to train you!"

Sasuke let out a sigh and continued eating his dinner. He wouldn't mind more training, his body always wanted more whenever he and Naruto had trained in the past. It didn't take him long to pick up on the techniques Naruto showed him and within two days his body was able to twist and turn as if he had already knew what to do and it was just remembering it again. He wasn't sure where all this was coming from and he could place it as natural talent but with how flabbergasted Naruto looked when he managed to disarm him in one spare, he knew that it wasn't normal.

Naruto seemed upset, though mostly at the thought that Sasuke, a beginner could best him after only a week of training. After that Naruto decided to push the brunet harder, wanting to see how far he could stretch his limits.

...

...

"I thought you said she had died."

"I know what I said! You can't expect me to predict every little thing!"

"It was your mission to bring him here, not to bring an extra person into the mix."

The two of them glared at each other from across the table, while the third occupant of the room smiled at the two of them darkly.

"The woman survived the journey here, that is enough to bring her here for. As for the boy, the plan remains the same. The two of you will not fail me, begin preparations."

"I hope you are aware that the cursed fox is with him."

"It's about time someone put him out of his misery."

"Hm."


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I recently took a break on writing and went back and read the story again and I noticed there are some discrepancies in the story, plot holes that I need to fill. Of course I'm posting the story as I write it so there might be changes to the story, even if it's a small change. I do plan on going back and fixing them and at the bottom of the page I'll let you know if anything small was changed so if you had already read through the story once you don't have to read through it again.

"I felt it!" Green eyes snapped open, excitement shining in them only to realize that her companion was no longer sitting in front of her. "Itachi?" She looked around her and didn't find him sitting or standing anywhere else. She pushed herself to her feet, which were once again hurting, and surveyed her surroundings. "Itachi?" She called out again, this time a bit louder.

"Yes."

Sakura jumped and turned around to stare at the man, "Where were you?"

"Surveying our surroundings." He replied, "Now what did you do?"

"I felt it!"

"Felt it?"

"I was meditating and I felt something this time!" At his inquiring expression she continued. "It felt cool and it flowed, almost like water and I was able to move it a little."

Itachi was honestly surprised at this revelation. While he had no doubt that Sakura would be able to eventually connect with her inner chakra, he didn't expect it to happen in a couple of weeks of her beginning to meditate. Perhaps she was more inclined for chakra control than he assumed.

"That's good. " He nodded at her, "For now you should continue meditating and see if you can start to move the chakra without having to put too much effort into it."

"Alright!" She looked like she was going to go back to mediating.

"Not right now Sakura, I was checking to see which way we should go and I've decided that we can't continue with the way we have."

"What do you mean?"

"You are not ready for our journey, on foot at least."

Sakura flushed, "I know I'm-"

"This is not a complaint Sakura." Itachi said gently, "It is not your fault that you cannot keep up with me." Many people couldn't keep up with him so it never occurred to him to compare Sakura to himself. "There is a larger town Krane that I heard about from the inn owner. We will head there and plan on how to approach the road ahead of us."

"How far is from here?"

"We should reach it tomorrow afternoon if we keep a steady pace."

"Okay."

And so they walked...and walked some more and more. Sakura used to think of hiking as relaxing, when she and Sasuke went hiking she was able to forget the hospital and all the stress she was experiencing. This was a far different experience and it probably had to do with the fact that they had been walking for about three days now and while their pace isn't anything to complain out, her feet are tired of carrying her weight.

That night she practices moving the chakra she's feeling a bit and she felt like she was making progress so she went to bed happy. The next morning they set out again and when the sight of smoke in the air and the sound of people talking reached her it renewed her spirits and helped her push forward. She was reaching the edge of the forest, itachi all but forgotten before she was pulled back into a solid human body.

Looking up she found Itachi staring at her with an amused look on his face.

"What?" She questioned, turning to look at him more comfortably.

"Because of your actions in the other town there is a chance that rumors about you have already reached this place."

"That's ridiculous, it hasn't even been that long." She huffed, crossing her arms.

"We were there for a bit over a week Sakura." Itachi replied, mirroring her and crossing his arms. "That town was on a trading route and during our time there many traders have had a chance to pass through it."

"Yeah but…" The last time she had ignored Itachi's warnings she had to open a temporary free clinic...maybe she should take some precautions if he thought they were necessary. "What do you think will happen?"

"Healers are often for those that can afford them." He began, "You showed that you are willing to help the poor and even that little bit of kindness you showed will be taken advantage of." Sakura's brows furrowed and she began to look upset, Itachi quickly continued, "While there are people that need your help I do not believe it to be wise to put yourself in the spotlight in such a way. You heard how the healer in the other village reacted, now imagine a healer in a bigger city with more influence and coin. We do not need for you to create enemies everywhere we go."

Green eyes widened, "Do you think that old guy would do something because I punched him."

"I don't think so." He smirked at her, "I believe you scared him off for good."

She snorted, "Did you see his face when we were walking away."

"I'll never forget it." He chuckled, "To prevent you from knocking out anymore men we need to hide that which makes you so identifiable."

"My hair." She nodded, "I don't know if hair dye is a thing in this world or not."

"While that would be preferable, we do not have the time or resources to do it now." He shook his head, "For now just keep your hood up and let me do the talking."

"Right." Sakura reached behind her and pulled the hood over her head, tucking stray strands that had escaped her messy bun out of sight. "How about that?" She asked once she was done.

"Good, now let us go."

As they got closer to the town gates Sakura found herself the subject of a few strange looks but they quickly rolled off her with disinterest. So maybe it was working, or these people had no idea who she was and Itachi was just being paranoid. Either way she was not being mobbed by people asking for a doctor's appointment.

They passed through the gates easily and Itachi immediately brought them to an inn and got them a room. He set her up with a bath and explained that he was going to go see what he could do about their traveling situation before taking off. Sakura swore to herself that when he got back she would ask him to take her around town because she wanted to see this new world she was in. Not be locked up in a hotel room taking warm bathes...not that she minded but there was more to life.

When Itachi did come back she was laying in her bed reading the book he had given her. She sat up when he entered and watched him set down a couple of things on the desk between their beds.

"What did you get?" She asked curiously.

"Dinner and hair dye." He responded, "It is not permanent but it will suffice until we get further away from here."

"What color is it?" She asked.

"Black." he replied, "I have also decided on what to do to get us to Konoha."

"What?"

"There is a horse merchant here and with the money we gathered from the townsfolk and those bandits we have enough to purchase one horse."

"A horse!" Sakura had never ridden a horse before, living in the city it wasn't weird to have never even seen a horse in real life. "Never been on one of those before."

"Hm." He didn't look impressed.

"Hey!" She grinned, not taking the implied insult seriously, "We have a much faster, more sophisticated way of getting around."

"If you are referring to the metal, death cabin on wheels they are hardly safe."

"Whatever, so how are we going to do this? Are we going to take turns?"

"No, the horse is mostly for you.I have no trouble walking for days on end, It's what I've been doing my entire life."

"What a sad life." She grumbled.

Ignoring her jab he continued, "We will make better progress with something that can keep up with me." He shot her a look that basically said that he was much more superior than her.

"Yeah, yeah so are you going to dye my hair?" She asked, reaching over and grabbing the bag of dark powder.

"Yes. Is the water from your bath still here?" She nodded, "Then come, the sooner we get this done the better."

Sakura followed after him and knelt down by the tub hanging her head over the tub as Itachi used a cup to pour water on her hair, wetting it before getting a handful of powder and rubbing it into her hair.

If he was stronger he would've been able to cast a genjutsu and make people think that not just her hair, but her entire body was a whole other person but for sake of storing up more chakra and ease of travel, using natural methods to change her hair would work. As her pink hair began to change into black he almost regretted it. After spending a few weeks with her, he was beginning to get used to it and was almost sad to see it go. He knew that after a few washes it would go back to it's original color, but until then.

"It is done." He stepped back and held out a towel for her. "Wrap your hair in this until it is dry or it might transfer to your clothes."

"Right." Sakura used the towel to wrap her hair and twisted it over her head to keep it in place. "I'm hungry now."

"Hm."

The next day Itachi, and a new black haired Sakura hit the streets. The darker hair color made her already pale skin look more pale and washed out. She hated it, her natural hair at least gave her the semblance of having color on her face. Well at least it was temporary, and with how dark her hair was she could pass as Itachi's sister if people didn't look closely.

He was originally going to leave her at the inn and wouldn't listen to any of her begging, until she threatened to go out by herself if he left her. Now they were down by the stables and Sakura watched as Itachi talked to some man who was working by them.

Her eyes wandered around the area as she took in the environment around her. Back in the other town she was too busy helping everyone to actually explore or look around. Town life was extremely busy, there were people everywhere doing everything imaginable. From where she stood she could see the older ladies gathered together gossiping, couples mingling, shady deals going on in dark corners, children stealing money from pockets -she was glad Itachi had the money- and the guards patrolling the streets. It was so different but the same as her own world that she didn't really feel homesick anymore. Because of how people were dressed and the lack of modern technology around it kind of felt like she was at a renaissance festival.

"Sakura." Breaking out of her thoughts Sakura saw Itachi standing before her, whatever he had to say to the stable guy was done.

"Yes."

"What do you want to do now, we have the rest of the evening free."

"Can you take me to some kind of shop that sells clothes?" She asked, "I like my clothes but I think they're not going to handle the cold that well."

He nodded, "Stay close." She followed after him as they began to make their way back towards the center of the town. She could tell they had reached some sort of shopping district when the stands and storefronts came into view. Itachi took them to a store that sold all kinds of clothes and let Sakura pick out what she wanted.

Shying away from the more delicate, pretty pieces, even though they were something she would want to try on if not the need for more practical clothing, she moved onto the section with the traveling clothes. They were mostly for men but the shopkeep didn't seem to care that she was a girl if it would make him money.

She ended up buy two pairs of pants, they weren't exactly jeans, but they were made of a thicker soft material that would no doubt keep her warm during the cold nights. She also got two longsleeve tunics that split around her hips. Itachi also made her buy boots that would keep the water out and gloves to keep her hands warm. The cloaks that they had were doing their job well so they left just after that.

They walked around a bit more and found a decently priced restaurant to eat at and since Sakura wasn't sure how anything would taste, Itachi got whatever would've been her second choice because he didn't care what he ended up eating. She was able to taste both dishes before deciding on one and giving the other to Itachi.

After dinner they went back to the inn and after an hour of practicing with her chakra Sakura went to bed. When she woke up the next morning Itachi was gone, and someone was at their door. A bit hesitant to answer it, Sakura approached the door and wished there was some sort of peephole to look through.

"Lady healer?" A voice from the other side spoke, it was muffled but definately a child.

Sakura opened the door a bit and found a boy, maybe ten or so standing on the other side, a scared and nervous look on his face. "Yes."

His blue eyes widened, "Are-are you really her." He asked, mouth agape in awe.

"I-I think so." Sakura let out a nervous giggle, it seems her reputation had spread while her name was still a bit unknown.

"They said you had pink hair."

"Yeah." She replied vaguely, not wanting whoever 'they' were to know she had dyed her hair.

"Can you help me." He asked, his eyes no longer nervous but rather determined. "They said you could help anyone!"

"Are you sick?" She asked him, concern clear on her face.

He shook his head, "No, but my mother is. I need you to help her please and I promise to give you my soul."

Sakura felt her eye twitch, she had heard some of the rumors when they were out eating last night and found them ridiculous. Some people called her a witch who asked for your first born child in exchange for healing, or your pinky toe and even foreskin. Like really, how did these rumors even spread! It's almost like the people spreading them were trying to out-rumor one another.

"Hm, I don't want your soul." She sighed and almost took back her words when she saw the boy's face crumble in despair.

"But I don't have anything else to offer!" He cried, as tears began to well in his eyes.

Sakura panicked and quickly knelt down and put her hands on his cheeks, wiping away the tears. "Don't cry, I'm sure we can work something out, but how about you take me to your mom first okay?"

He nodded, using a hand to wipe away his tears, "Yes."

Sakura let out a sigh of relief as he stopped crying, she told him to wait while she got dressed and gathered her things. She didn't know what she would need so she took her entire bag, shoving a few of the coins Itachi had given her, just in case she got hungry, into the bottom of the bag. Then she followed the boy to his house.

Meanwhile Itachi was at an underground bar trying to see if he could overhear any rumors concerning his companion. Contrary to popular belief these shady bars were often operational in the mornings for the real secret stuff, since that was when people expected these deals to go down the least. Over his time he had spent a lot of time in similar places searching for Madara, or at least rumors of his latest crime.

"Well isn't this a surprise." The familiar voice and chakra, caused Itachi to look up from his drink to the one eyed blond he had hoped wouldn't notice him.

"Deidara."

"Shouldn't you be dead somewhere mhm?" The explosions expert sat down next to Itachi at the bar, tilting his head to look at Itachi, the mechanical insert in his other eye flashing at him.

"Don't you have contracts to fill, I expected more from an Akatsuki mercenary."

"Hmm, I was on a hunt." The blond began, taking a sip from his cup, "But it seems I won't stand a chance against them."

It had to be someone powerful to stump the blond, "Why, losing your touch?" He smirked at him, but the shine in the blond's blue eye was disconcerting.

"No, my target is easy enough to take out. She wandered out of the wardings set up by her companion." Deidara said off handedly, taking the drink in Itachi's hands and taking a sip. "The only problem with finishing her off would be her companion. There is a rumor that he just recently killed a god."

Itachi froze, his mind putting two and two together. "There is a contract on her?"

"A very rewarding one to be delivered alive and not damaged to a certain someone."

"Who?"

"I'm not sure, it was a proxy."

"You said she left my warding." Itachi got to his feet, cursing Sakura's inability to listen to him.

"Leaving so soon Itachi?" The Uchiha didn't bother responding before exiting the bar and following the road back to the inn, while keeping his senses open to her chakra. While it was small, he had spent enough time to memorize it's signature.

When he did find her she was talking to a middle aged woman who looked pale and sickly. He felt his temper rising and knew that this was not her fault. She didn't know about the bounty on her head, or even what that meant. She just wanted to help and he could understand that but this was not acceptable. He didn't bother going inside, instead he stood outside the house trying to get his temper under control.

An hour later Sakura emerged from the house, seeming shocked that he was here. He had his temper under control, but silently ushered for her to follow him and soon enough they were back in their room.

Sakura knew something was wrong when she saw Itachi silently brooding in front of the woman's house. Then when he didn't talk to her the entire way back to their room, she felt like a child who knew they were going to get a scolding.

"I-Itachi." He turned to look at her, his eyes giving away his opinion of her at the moment. "I'm sorry about leaving without telling you."

"So you admit you knew it was wrong?"

Sakura flushed in embarrassment, "Yes."

"Sakura you are unaware who it is that brought you into this world, we do not know if they are a good or bad force and until we do I will do my best to keep you alive and healthy. I cannot do that if you insist on acting like a child and running off every time someone comes to you asking for your help." Sakura had never been scolded like this before, Sasuke was more of a glare at you and leave for the day kind of person until she admitted her mistake and apologized. "I understand that it is in your nature to help those that need it but you need to be able to take care of yourself and have some self preservation-."

"I'm not sorry for what I did Itachi." Sakura interrupted looking at him with defiant green eyes, and he felt his breathing stop for a moment with the amount of resolve shining in them. "But I do admit that I was rash and I probably shouldn't have run off by myself in a place I've never been, but know this. If I can save someone's life not even you can stop me from doing it."

He mentally shook himself, his temper rising along with his respect for the woman before him. It was a strange mixture of emotions but he had enough sense to not snap back at her. He had a feeling her temper would get the better of her.

"Pack up your things, our horse is ready and we will be leaving immediately."


	9. Chapter 9

The number of mercenaries that were attacking them was getting bigger and bigger, whoever was sending them after him, this Orochimaru, was seriously getting on his last nerve. The men he was sending were no longer just cannon fodder, they were more skilled, but at the moment between himself and Naruto they weren't that much of a problem.

"I'm so tired of you guys!" Naruto yelled from across the battlefield as he punched a guy right in face. "Tell Orochimaru to come himself if he want's the bastards body this bad."

"Tch." He dodged the sword swiping at him before going in for a counter attack. These guys were being careful not to kill him, but they weren't worried about hurting him a little as they attempted to subdue him. The man he was fighting was fast, but he was slowly getting used to the man's movements and patterns, but none of that would matter if he couldn't raise his sword fast enough to block it.

"SASUKE!" There was a warning in the blond's tone and Sasuke quickly jumped back, but he wasn't fast enough. Another man appeared in his peripheral vision, his sword aiming for his head.

Shit, he wouldn't be able to block that fast enough. He was going to die, he wouldn't be able to see Sakura again she would be stuck here forever. Shitshitshitshitshitshit. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the blow, but it never came.

There was complete silence in the follow seconds, he couldn't hear anything, not even Naruto fighting across the field, or the men that were surrounding him, it was dead silent. He cracked open one eye and found himself inside some sort of purple barrier, a giant man, or the torso of a man in full armor hovered above him. He watched in awe as the thing swung a purple sword and took out the men that surrounded him.

Was this Naruto's doing? He thought but a quick look at the blond's shocked expression answered his question. This was him, who else could it have been. The thing around him protected him as more mercenaries attacked him, and when Naruto finished off his opponents and made his way to Sasuke there was a guarded expression on his face.

"What the fuck!" Naruto yelled at him, "You're an Uch-" The purple shield around him disappeared, he lost strength in his body, and the world fading to black.

Naruto's blue eyes narrowed at the crumpled form at the man he was beginning to consider a friend. He was an Uchiha. Just the thought of that clan left a bitter taste in his mouth and he was tempted to just leave Sasuke here for Orochimaru to find.

_"Soooo," Black eyes snapped open in irritation and found Naruto staring at him once again. "Is your wife pretty?"_

_Sasuke felt his eye twitch, "She's not my wife."_

_Naruto gave him a perverted smile, "Sure she's not."_

_"We never got married."_

_"Did you know you talk in your sleep." Naruto's grin turned even more lecherous. "Oh Sakura don't touch me-"_

_Sasuke dunked the blond under the water and held him there for a good five seconds before letting him up again._

_"I was just trying to make conversation bastard!" Naruto coughed, shaking water off his face._

_"You could just try to enjoy the silence you idiot."_

_"No wonder she didn't marry you."_

His glare turned into a frown.

_"Why do you care so much about this Sakura anyway Sasuke, it's not like she's your wife?" Naruto asked, looking over at his companion lying in the other bed. "Most men would be happy if their ex left them alone."_

_Sasuke shook his head at him, "Sakura was the first thing I saw when I woke up at the hospital." He remembered his first memory of waking up in the hospital, "Sakura was there standing in a white coat and my first thought of her was, she had such weird colored hair."_

_Naruto chuckled, "Yeah pink is a weird color."_

_Sasuke took another drink from the bottle in his hand before continuing, "Yeah, she was friendly and was the one who helped me come to terms with my memory loss. When I was released from the hospital she helped me find a place to stay and she was my first friend. I took her family name when I proposed, we were supposed to be a family but that didn't work out"_

_"Hm."_

_"Even though we broke up I still cared about her." He set the now empty bottle down at his bedside table, "There are some bonds that can't be broken no matter what happens."_

_"Do you still love her?"_

_Sasuke seemed to hesitate before he finally replied, not looking Naruto in the eyes, "I will always love her."_

Naruto lowered his fist.

_"You idiot I told you not to eat that!" Sasuke smacked his back as he threw up the contents of his stomach._

_"How was I supposed to know it was a poisonous mushroom."_

Fuck.

_"I don't say this often," Sasuke spoke as he laid next to Naruto on the ground after a brutal training session, "But thank you for your help Naruto."_

The frown disappeared and Naruto stared up at the sky. "FUCK!" He ran his hands through his hair as confusion flooded his thoughts. He wanted to hate Sasuke, he really wanted to but this was so crazy. Sasuke wasn't a murderous murderer! The guy just wanted to find his girl, he didn't even know he was an Uchiha!

He bend down and threw the unconscious Uchiha onto his back before pumping chakra to his feet and running towards the direction he could feel Jiraiya in. He didn't know what to do so he hoped his teacher could tell him.

After a day of running, and Sasuke still not waking up Naruto summoned Gamakichi and had the toad carry them while he rested his legs.

"Why are you in such a hurry boss?"

"I don't know!" Naruto was still at a loss at what to do and it was driving him insane. He couldn't even beat Sasuke up while he was asleep because the bastard wouldn't even remember it.

"Sheesh boss, is this what you humans call menopause?"

Naruto felt his eye twitch at those words but he refrained from responding. Knowing if he pissed the toad off he wouldn't be moving fast enough towards the pervy sage.

Their search led them to a small town, and to no one's surprise they found Jiraiya peeping on the bathing women by the river.

"Oi, pervy sage!" Naruto had released Gamakichi when they neared the town to not freak out the civilians, and had carried the still unconscious Sasuke with hm the rest of the way. He didn't go through the town and instead ran around it to the river.

Jiraiya jumped, "I swear sir I wasn't watching the wo-" His dark eyes narrowed on Naruto. "It's just you Naruto, you should know better than to interrupt me when I'm doing my research."

The vein in Naruto's temple throbbed as he growled at the older man in anger, "We need to put your research aside, I have a problem!" He laid Sasuke out between them.

Jiraiya stared at Sasuke on the floor before back at his pupil, a dirty glint appearing in his eyes, "Normally when you bring a boy to introduce to your godfather he is usually conscious Naruto."

The blond flushed a dark red, "He's not-I'm not!" Naruto shook his head, "He's an Uchiha."

Jiraiya raised a brow and looked back down at Sasuke, "Naruto you know very well the only Uchiha left is Shisui and you've met him."

"He summoned Susanoo two days ago and Orochimaru has been after him ever since he showed up in this world."

The toad sage blinked at his pupils words, before letting out a big sigh. He sent one last, longing look over his shoulder at the bathing women before turning his gaze back to Naruto. "Fine, let's go somewhere more secure."

They moved to a cave further down the river, it seems since he and Jiraiya had arrived in his country his teacher hadn't left their first camp spot. The cave looked lived in, which means they had everything they would need.

Naruto put Sasuke down on one of the bed rolls before joining his teacher by the entrance of cave.

"So tell me everything."

Naruto explained how Sasuke said he was from another world, and that when he had first found him some of Orochimaru's henchmen were after him. He mentioned how Sasuke was looking for his ex fiance and that she was here, which seemed to be the truth since Sasuke was really convinced the healer the rumors were talking about was her. He then told him about the fight they had a few days ago and Sasuke summoning Susanoo and how he was learning how to fight so fast even though he claimed he had never done it before.

Jiraiya frowned, looking over his shoulder at the still unconscious man, he couldn't sense any Uchiha chakra or aura from him. Other than Itachi and Shisui he had never been in close contact with an Uchiha before.

"Why is he still unconscious." Naruto questioned him.

"Let's find out." The two moved so they were sitting either side of Sasuke. Jiraiya placed a hand over Sasuke's head and closed his eyes.

Naruto watched on, anxiety twisting his stomach in every which way as he waited. He wasn't sure how long he sat there as Jiraiya did his thing, but it felt like forever.

When Jiraiya looked up Naruto was no longer sitting in front of him, but rather eating all of the food he had stored away. "Naruto."

"What did you find?"

"He is indeed an Uchiha." The toad sage looked tired, Naruto noticed, he actually looked his age for once. "And he is not just a child who doesn't know of his powers, who was somehow hidden from the world. He is old enough to have been alive during the massacre."

"Then why can't he remember anything?"

"There is a strong seal placed on his soul." Jiraiya replied, "I can undo it with some work but it begs the question who put it up in the first place."

"Do you think he was one of-"

"No." Jiraiya shook his head, "I would remember if he was."

Naruto shook his head, as if to clear it of all the questions in it. "Why is he still not awake?"

"You said he has no control of his chakra, yet he summoned susanoo without thought for minutes. He is probably drained of chakra and is going through the symptoms of chakra depletion."

Naruto felt his shoulders relax, "Good."

Jiraiya watched his student closely, it seemed the boy who held a grudge against the Uchiha seemed to be worried about one.

"There is more I can find out about why that seal is there, but I need him to be awake."

"He's stubborn, I think he'll wake up soon."

Soon was a day later, and Sasuke woke up sore all over. It felt like he had done his entire gym routine after years of not doing anything at all. He could barely even lift his arms without pain.

"Don't sit up boy." Dark eyes met the eyes of the older white haired man. "You're suffering from extreme chakra depletion so give your body some time to heal."

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked, looking around for Naruto but not seeing him.

"Me, I am the legendary Toad Sage." Jiraiya grinned, "The teacher of your friend, Naruto."

So this was the guy Naruto wanted them to see. Sasuke wasn't impressed.

"Where is Naruto?"

"Out buying food since he ate whatever I had." Jiraiya moved closer to Sasuke's prone form. "What is your family name Sasuke."

"I don't have any memory of my family." Sasuke snapped at him. "Why?"

"I wonder."

"Hey bastard you're awake!" Naruto walked into the cave and Jiraiya noticed how the Uchiha relaxed a bit. It makes sense, he only knew Naruto in this world and trusted him. "About time, pervy sage and I thought you were never going to wake up."

"Tch."

They had dinner together before Jiraiya explained to Sasuke who he was.

"Wait what?" Sasuke stared between Naruto and Jiraiya.

"The Uchiha were an old clan, a powerful one at one point but something happened and the clan turned on itself and almost everyone was killed." Jiraiya explained, "There were only three people who survived the massacre, a pair of cousins and a founder but only one has survived till this day. Uchiha Shisui."

"What about the other two?" Sasuke asked.

"Uchiha Itachi died killing Uchiha Madara two months ago." Jiraiya replied. "I can feel that you are a Uchiha when I press against the seal, but I needed you to be awake to see anymore."

"The pervy sage he might be able to release the seal!" Naruto added, "There's a chance you might be able to remember everything."

Jiraiya kept the question of why was he sealed up anyway, and sent to another world where he would've never had the chance to remember or return from. If Sasuke was a risk, if he was one the ones who had turned on his clan, would it be wise to undo his seal.

Sasuke's brain was swimming at the information being thrown at him. This was insane, absolutely insane. Though how weird was it really when he thought of it. He was pulled into a different world by some madman who, according to Naruto, wanted his body while all he wanted to do was find his wife- damn it Naruto was even getting him to say that.

"Do it." Instead of entertaining the thought of Sakura as his wife he turned to Jiraiya. "I need to know more."

Jiraiya nodded and this time placed a hand on Sasuke's chest. Sasuke felt a sudden pressure on him, as if gravity was pushing him down harder.

Jiraiya arrived at the seal again, finding it easier since he had already found it before and because Sasuke was a willing participant. Things were much more brighter, sharper with Sasuke being awake and Jiraiya had to slow down the information he was getting before it overwhelmed him.

Behind the seal there were not any memories of a life hidden away. It was a mess of memories, of a life that was ripped apart savagely. His chakra system was also fractured, while some of it worked, there was no way Sasuke would survive for long without the seal in place. It seemed the seal acted as a chakra represent, keeping it from moving through this body since his body couldn't harness it. Well the question of why the seal was put in place was answered, but the question of who had done it remained. Shisui should have answers, but they had to get back to Konoha to get them. Tsunade might be able to heal Sasuke if they ever did remove the seal, or at least he hoped. The seal was weakening naturally with the force of Sasuke's own chakra pushing at the seal thanks to this worlds strong chakra presence. He didn't have long.

He released his hold on Sasuke and sat back, "We need to go to Konoha."

"Why?" Naruto questioned, "Can't you undo the seal?"

"I can, but I don't know what will happen if I do." That was a lie but he didn't think it was wise to tell the Uchiha that he would die. "I need Tsunade to be there."

"I guess."

Sasuke looked between the two of them, "What about my wi- what about Sakura?"

"I believe your first priority should be making sure you're stable enough to find your wife." Jiraiya said, "If we go to Konoha we can regroup, you may gain some of your abilities back and there is still the issue of Orochimaru. You do not want to be facing him alone."

"Plus didn't the innkeeper say that Sakura was also heading towards Konoha." Naruto said, "If we go to Konoha we'll meet up with her anyway."

Sasuke's brow furrowed, he really wanted to find out about his past but he also wanted to make sure Sakura was okay. But if she was going to go to the same place then he should just meet her there.

"Fine." He looked up at them. "I'll go to Konoha."

"Excellent." Jiraiya grinned, "I'll join you boys." He needed to keep an eye on the seal and make sure Orochimaru, if it really was him behind all this, didn't take Sasuke. Even if Sasuke was technically broken, who knows what his old friend could do with the potential of an Uchiha. Better safe than sorry.


End file.
